


Proof of Love

by lovelykotori



Category: Dragon Ball
Genre: Drama, F/M, Romance
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-12-21
Updated: 2017-02-28
Packaged: 2018-09-10 21:03:16
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 14
Words: 48,893
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8939227
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lovelykotori/pseuds/lovelykotori
Summary: The mysterious youth from the future implores Goku to keep his secret, assuring him that his parents will eventually find their way towards one-other, but that knowing the truth could compromise events to come. But wait - the Saiyan unintentionally blabs! The current situation seems awkward, to say the least. Nobody present wishes for such a future to transpire. Bulma is confronted to prove her love to Yamcha and cast Vegeta aside. Is the existence of Trunks at risk?





	1. Prolog

**Author's Note:**

> Hi my dear readers! Maybe you know me from DeviantArt or Fanfiction.net I am the author and artist from the fanfiction and comic Proof of Love. I am now also uploading my stuff here :) 
> 
> The first three chapters are beta-read by thatdbzchick from ff.net (and re-edited by saiyanprince541). The rest of the fanfiction will be translated from the lovely fleurlicorne!
> 
> Please consider that the written fic and the Doujinshi are not exactly the same!

  
  


Bulma sat in her glider, as she flew back towards Capsule Corporation. Her heart still throbbed, following the incidents that had occurred, on this stressful day. Ever since learning of Frieza’s untimely arrival, the day had hit her with one unforeseen surprise after another. As the icy tyrant’s spacecraft landed upon the Earth, everyone seemed certain that there was no escape. But suddenly a young man appeared out of nowhere. With seemingly little effort, he crushed the despotic lizard along with his father and their entire posse.

~*~

_Overwhelmed with momentary relief, the Z Gang presented themselves, before the boy. Even though they didn't know who he was, the blue-haired woman trusted him right from the get-go, which was a little unusual of her. She took note of his indigo jacket that had the capsule corporation logo imprinted on the left sleeve. ‘Hm, odd.’ She thought. Not a second later she asked him if he worked for the company, because only staff and family members, wore outfits with that logo. Bulma was quite sure that she knew every employee. But then, there was always the possibility that her father hired a new worker without her notice. With a faint blush, he politely said ‘no’ and concealed any further information about himself. It was obvious that he didn't feel very comfortable, under her inquisitive scrutiny. The only thing he did say, was that that they should await Goku’s arrival, claiming that he’d land on Earth, in approximately two hours time._

_As it turned out, he was dead right. Their old friend and hero wore a look of confusion, when he exited the space pod, cocking his head as he noticed the strange boy, with the purple hair. The rest of the gang were quite surprised, when Goku claimed that he didn’t know the handsome youth. How in seven hells did this Super Saiyan kid, know exactly when Goku was due to arrive? Everyone wanted to know who he was and what his intentions were. What was the purpose of his visit? Suspicions rose further, as the prodigious young Saiyan asked Goku to speak with him, in private. Bulma desperately wanted to know, what was going on. After a brief discourse and a light spar between the two warriors, the mystery figure disappeared, yet again. Goku made his way over to the others, in order to clarify the situation, only- he didn’t know how. Luckily for him, Piccolo’s acute, auditory senses, allowed him to catch wind of the verbal exchange that had taken place. Thus, he began explaining, since Goku happened to have forgotten all the essential details. Three years from now, a deadly pair of Androids would appear, with a mission to kill Goku and destroy everything on this planet. That was the quintessence, which had everybody disconcerted._

~*~

When she remembered everything that had occurred on this day, the blue-haired woman found herself shuddering, once again. She shook her head and upped the acceleration on her glider. All she wanted to do was go home. Home, sweet home. She felt her heart shoot up her throat and could scarcely think straight, every time her mind ventured back to recent events. Part of her was cautioning her against flying, under such a strained condition. Too many things crossed her mind and distracted her from handling that glider.

~*~

_The conversation went on and the blue-haired woman had suggested that they use the dragon balls to find and destroy the Androids, before they could even pose a threat. However, neither Goku or Vegeta shared her view. Their Saiyan blood boiled for battle, despite the overwhelming odds that were stacked against them. Unfortunately she had little say in the matter, especially after all the Z-Fighters had come to a consensus, agreeing to utilize these three years by training like never before._

~*~

All these talks about a potentially apocalyptic future, didn’t seem to faze her. She had the utmost confidence in her friends. However, there was something else that concerned her a lot more. In the end, she had only to blame herself. Really, she shouldn't have asked such stupid questions. But curiosity was her middle name and she really wanted to learn the identity of that mysterious, young warner.  

~*~

   _"Why can't you just tell us?" She snarled, azure eyes flashing with annoyance as she tapped her foot against the soil._ __

_“Well, his existence does kinda depend on me, not telling you.” Goku replied. Instinctively, he raised his hand and placed it on his loquacious mouth. Apparently, he’d divulged too much information. These words should’ve sufficed, as a warning. She would simply have to put two and two together, in order to complete this damned puzzle, but at that moment she wasn’t exactly thinking straight. If someone came from the future and his existence was threatened by them being aware of his true identity, then the answer seemed pretty darn obvious. Moreover she was the only woman present, so…_

_“What on Earth are you talking about Goku?” She asked, but then decided not to press the matter, letting out a sigh of surrender. “Ugh fine, you don't have to tell me.” If it helped the boy, then she’d cast aside her curiosities this one time. As she finally let the matter drop, the Saiyan removed the hand from his mouth and took a huge breath of relief. “But it’s pretty incredible that he's also a Super Saiyan.” She added as an afterthought. What was said next was the crucial piece of information that would alter the course of history, for better or for worse.  “Well, he is Vegeta’s son, after all, so-” Goku blurted out, without thinking. His eyes widened and a blaring alarm bell rung within his mind, as he realized what he’d mistakenly said. The clumsy Saiyan was met with the stunned looks of his friends. Oh God, he’d said it! He’d really divulged the one fact that he was supposed to keep secret!_

_Although the name of the mother was not said, anyone with half a mind could fill that void, within moments. The Capsule Corporation logo on his jacket, the purple hair and the blue eyes, were a dead giveaway. In virtually no time at all, the truth hit Bulma like a ton of bricks. She was to be the boy’s mother. A feeling of dread and horror began sprouting within, as she considered the possibility of her and Vegeta, having a child together. With eyes as wide as oceans, she stared at her best friend, completely aghast. How was that even possible? But it explained so much, there was no denying that. The boy’s physical appearance exhibited traits of both her and her surly houseguest. But could it really be true? No!! She refused to believe it, not unless she heard the words from the mouth of her best friend._

_"And who is- the m-mother?” She stammered, nervously waiting for a response. Goku remained quiet, unable to utter a word. His silence was all the answer she needed._

_She felt the eyes of the others on her. It was crystal clear now and everyone knew it._

_Bulma's heart was pounding like crazy and she dared not meet the eyes of those around her, two people in particular: the Saiyan Prince who was to share a child with her, his expression screaming outrage at the unwelcoming discovery and her boyfriend, Yamcha, with whom everything had been going rather well. How did he take the news? Unable to look at anyone, she decided to shut her eyes. The uncomfortable silence that ensured, only burgeoned her inner-turmoil and she took a few tentative steps back. Eventually, she heard her houseguest object to the union, vehemently asserting that he would never be involved with that ‘vulgar woman’. She took his insults in stride, not really caring. After all, she had no feelings for this proud Prince who had nothing better to do than train and dissociate himself from all those around him. Vegeta angrily rebuffed any ideas of them getting together. As if he was the only one! Just thinking about being intimate with him, was so bizarre and unnatural. A cold shiver ran down her spine. Bulma suddenly felt incredibly guilty, as though she’d betrayed Yamcha, despite not having done anything wrong- yet. The future, however, knew better._

_She continued to slowly retreat backwards, until she had brought about ten metres of distance, between herself and her friends. This sinking feeling in her stomach just refused to fade._

~*~

Now here she was alone in the glider and still trying to process everything. She was ashamed of what she had done after getting this bad feeling. She had been so nauseated that she felt the need to puke. It was just too much. Yamcha had sometimes expressed his doubts, concerning the presence of Vegeta, in her house. But nobody could have predicted such unimaginable repercussions. Given the recent revelation, perhaps Yamcha’s previous doubts, weren’t exactly misplaced.

What kind of clusterfuck was she in now? It was as though several light years had suddenly separated her and Vegeta. He didn’t appear to have the slightest desire to be intimate with anyone, definitely not her, not that she felt any different. Yamcha still held a place in the depths of her heart. But her boyfriend was not just upset, he was outright furious, so much so that he refused to fly with her, in the glider. He gave her a withering look, as though she were responsible for the outrageous behaviour of her future self. But she hadn’t even done anything wrong yet, so why was he making her feel guilty, for no good reason? 

Nonetheless, the most important question was whether or not the future scenario would play out the same way, in the current timeline. After recent events, there was clearly a wedge between her and Vegeta. The Prince would do his utmost to avoid any involvement with her. Bulma hardly knew if he even wanted to stay with her at home. She couldn’t really blame him for that. Maybe she should promise him that she would leave him alone and wouldn’t make any unwanted advancements. Finally she had Yamcha- Still, how did her future self, end up in the arms of Vegeta?

What made the situation worse was the fate of that future boy. If she and Vegeta didn’t have their little affair, would he simply cease to exist? What was it about these layers of time? Could changes in the present possibly have an effect on a future that had already happened? If so, then the mysterious youth’s fate lay within her hands- and Vegeta’s. Dammit, that was her boy! Had she known that bit of information earlier, she would have at least tried to get to know him better. Then again, he had mentioned that he would return to help fight the Androids, after the three years elapsed- if the time machine had enough energy, that is. But could he still make an appearance, if he wasn’t born in the present world? 

She shook her head and took a deep breath. Of course her actions wouldn’t affect the future world. When she really thought about it, the battle against the Androids would already change drastically, after the warning that had been delivered, by her ‘son’. What did it matter if the relationship between her and Vegeta didn’t come to fruition, if everything remained as it was? What if she and Yamcha had children instead? They would certainly be a happy family.

At last, the blue-haired heiress reached Capsule Corporation, in the western capital. Carefully, she landed the glider onto the landing pad, behind her house. After settling the vehicle down, she turned off the ignition, got up and returned it to it’s capsule form. Feeling unsure of herself, she turned around and looked at the Capsule ship in the backyard, wondering if Vegeta had returned to train under intense gravity and whether or not he would continue to live with them.

Suddenly, she reminded herself that she should stop thinking about that moody Saiyan. There were more important things to consider, right now. She needed to strengthen her relationship with Yamcha. She needed to earn his trust ‘again’, after the whole mystery boy debacle.

But the inventor felt responsible for her future self. With some forced confidence, she exhaled and moved away from the landing site, leisurely striding towards the Capsule Corporation Residential Complex. She stopped short and turned around again, her gaze fixated upon the gravity room. She stood there, petrified, wondering if anyone was inside. She just had to know.


	2. Decisions

__

Several minutes elapsed and she was unable to turn away from the gravity room. Bulma tentatively chewed on her lower lip, trying to suppress that queasy feeling in her stomach. The foul taste from earlier still lingered in her mouth. She desperately needed a drink and maybe even a toothbrush, in order to finally forget the events from earlier. Besides she wanted to avoid throwing up again. The blue-haired woman shook her head and took a deep breath, in a bid to calm herself. Dammit, why did it interest her so much, whether or not Vegeta was in this accursed capsule ship? What the arrogant Saiyan was doing or not doing, should be of little import to her.

As if on its own accord, her body moved in the general direction of that darn ship. Her feet pressed down on the lush green grass, with each slow step, the consequent sounds rustling in her ears, as if warning her to stay back. She could feel her heart pounding harder and harder, the further she moved, her anxiety growing rapidly. Her inner self told her that she should avoid the capsule and leave the prince, as he was. But she had to know whether he’d decided to bail or steeled his strapping body, within the confines of that chamber. 

Finally, she stood on a ledge, in front of one of the many small windows that would allow her a brief view of what was taking place inside the capsule- if anything was taking place, that is. She hesitated for a moment, but then gathered up her courage. It was unlikely that he would notice her, anyway and she wanted to know whether or not he was there. She hated being kept in the dark. Standing on her tiptoes, she cautiously peered inside. Only the standard lighting was switched on. Her eyes darted from left to right, but she couldn't locate the stubborn Saiyan. Minutes passed, with her aimlessly staring into the capsule, till she was starting to feel uncomfortable and finally decided to leave her curiosities, for another time. The heiress gently dropped to the ground. Just because he wasn’t here, didn't necessarily mean that he’d decided to abscond. Perhaps he was just somewhere in the mountains, brooding.

She shook her head, trying to force such extraneous thoughts out of her mind. She decided not to think too much about Vegeta. It was Yamcha, who deserved her undivided attention. He was her boyfriend after all and she didn’t even know where he was or what he was up to.

The former desert bandit had vociferously repudiated her, when she asked that he accompany her on the glider. But Bulma was sure that he would eventually come back to his senses and realize that this so-called future would not come to pass, in the present world, since they had some sense of forewarning. For now, she had to prove to her boyfriend that they were meant for one-another and that she would never allow Vegeta, of all people, to break the bond they shared. That aside, she had a big stack of paperwork that required her attention, at the office.

Lost in thought, she traipsed toward the back entrance of Capsule Corporation. As always the door was unlocked. When she entered the house, a tense silence greeted her. There was no Yamcha, who was normally in the basement, talking with one of her parents. Her mother was most likely attending to the menagerie of animals and plants. She could also only guess that her father was engrossed in his usual lab work. That was also something Bulma needed, right now. Work! That always served as a good distraction. Distraction was of the utmost important right now, since she was in no mood whatsoever, to recount the events of this dreadful day, to her family. 

How could she explain it to them, especially her mother? Bulma was certain that she would advise her not to try and change the future, so that they could finally embrace their long-awaited grandson. The thought made her sigh softly. No matter how clear she was about her refusal to engage in anything intimate with Vegeta, her flaxen-haired ditz of a mother would most likely hound her and guilt her, to kingdom come. Well, the hell with that! As if she didn’t have enough problems already. That in mind, the supposed ‘mother-to-be’ decided to hold off.

Bulma unlaced her shoes and tossed them in a nearby corner, deciding to wear her work shoes, as she headed two floors up, directly to the labs. A little sciency chat with her old man was all she needed to re-attune herself with her daily life and forget all her worries- for the meantime, at least. After a long walk up the stairway, she opened the door to the main laboratory, in hopes of finding her father there and drawing him into a conversation.

"I am back Da-” She began talking, but her words caught in her throat, as she realized that the old man was in the midst of a conversation with a certain someone, whom she had previously been searching for. Bulma saw the muscular back of the Saiyan, who had apparently decided not to bolt. Vegeta was garbed in short training pants and sports shoes. It looked as though her mother had already provided him with some human clothing. The Prince was had arrived here a lot quicker than she had. But of course, that was to be expected, given the speed of a Saiyan in comparison to that of a glider.

"Four hundred times gravity?" Dr. Briefs eyes bugged out, in disbelief. The heiress instantly knew what they were discussing. The flame-haired warrior was desperately seeking a means to surpass Goku and since the younger, Earth-raised Saiyan had increased his power by leaps and bounds thanks to the gravity-machine, Vegeta obviously wanted to emulate his example- only at a much bigger scale. “But that’s suicide. You’d weigh almost twenty-five tons.”

“And that’s precisely what I need! I command you to make this damned upgrade.” Vegeta growled, rather brusquely. Bulma’s eyes were still glued to his bare back. There was no doubt in her mind that he would’ve noticed her by now, but just wasn’t deigned to look upon her person.

She didn't know what bothered her more: the fact that he deliberately ignored her or that she even cared about the unwarranted cold shoulder, he was giving her. Dammit, this whole messed-up situation was eerie enough already and that jerk was only making it worse.

Bulma was sure that if both of them were unaware of that half-Saiyan being their future son, they wouldn’t be acting so awkwardly around one-another. She would scorn him for ignoring a lady like her or would think up something else to provoke him. But now, she felt numb in his presence, her self-confidence waning, against her will. The blue-haired woman clenched her hands into fists, suddenly infuriated at him for having such a hold on her. It was as though she weren’t allowed to move freely, even though she had no ulterior motives.

 “Well, it will take a while. You can expect that upgrade within a few days. Bulma will be sure to help you out.” Her father’s words suddenly tore right through her thoughts. She blinked and looked into his eyes. He was sitting in his office chair, reaching for his pipe. From the corner of her eyes, she could make out Vegeta’s face, who’d slightly turned his gaze towards hers, but still refused to look her in the eye.

“Yeah- uh- sure.” She drawled uneasily. “Well, then, I think it’s best we head to the gravity room so we can talk. what do you say?" Her attempts at feigning confidence were failing miserably. She didn’t want the Saiyan to observe the obvious tension, brewing within her.

"Are we finished here?” Vegeta snarled, not even having the decency to hear a word she said.

"Are you even listening to me?" Bulma protested, but the Prince simply turned in her direction without a word or a glance, passing by her as he made his exit.

Bulma felt her heart stop for just a moment, when he was mere centimetres from her, her breath stuck in the centre of her windpipe. She couldn’t dare to even look at him, yet she could feel his cold eyes boring into her. But his dark opals weren’t the only things making her nervous. It was his whole appearance that triggered a strange, tingling sensation within her, like no other. “So- how are you, my girl? Did everything turn out fine with this, what was his name, Fridge?" Once again, her father wedged right through her thoughts and she suddenly remembered why she’d come here, in the first place. 

“Um yeah- yes. Everything turned out just fine.” She replied vaguely.

“Excellent." He smiled, pulling out a cigar. "So Bulma dear, it would be really helpful if you could do this upgrade for Vegeta. I’m afraid that I’m sort of preoccupied with a whole bunch of other projects, at the moment."

Bulma didn’t feel the drive or passion to engage herself in any task that ran the risk of crossing paths with Vegeta. She did want him to become stronger, there was no doubt about that, but what would Yamcha assume, if he saw the two of them together. She couldn’t let her father do the upgrades either. Even if he weren’t busy, he’d inquire as to why she was so afraid to be in the presence of the Saiyan Prince. Hm- Maybe she could be subtle about it, so much so that her boyfriend wouldn’t know a thing. Or perhaps she could just send Yamcha away, every time she had to work on the gravity machine. No, that wouldn’t work. It would only raise suspicions. Ah, the hell with all the secrecy. Honesty, as the phrase went, is the best policy.

"So you're pretty busy, huh?" She did initially try and foist off the work, on her father. However, he insisted that there were several important projects, due by the end of the week that needed to be complete, in order to approve additional funding, for certain departments.

 “Yes, yes and I also have to finish this paper for this conference, if I may add.”

"Okay, okay, I'll do it.” The blue-haired woman threw her arms up, groaning in defeat. “I better get started.” She sighed and with those words, she left her father’s laboratory and made a dash for a nearby room, where she could get changed into her work attire.

While she was taking off her dress, she wondered when Yamcha would finally make an appearance at Capsule Corporation. Ideally, she would tell him in advance what she was going to do. If he espied her in the Gravity Room with Vegeta, things would definitely become awkward- or worse. Yes, Bulma was almost certain that he would throw a conniption, in such an event.

“That’s his problem though, not mine.” She told herself, as she slipped into into an orange boiler suit. After putting on matching shoes, she ran down the stairs, headed for the gravity room. While she was on her way, step by step, her body reminded her that she hadn't drank anything, since the whole future-boy dilemma. She was definitely parched. To top it all of, the sickness from earlier was still as present as ever. She only hoped that she didn’t vomit in the Gravity Room, in front of the Saiyan. But she really needed to get this over and done with. There was no time, whatsoever, for dawdling. If her calculations were right, the real work wasn't particularly demanding. She was ready to complete these upgrades and any accompanying maintenance.

Finally as she stood in front of the space capsule, but there wasn't a soul in sight. No Vegeta or Yamcha. ‘Perfect.’ She thought. Now she could devote her undivided attention to getting this thing finished, without being tense or under pressure. Bulma opened the heavy door of the flying object and trotted right towards the control panel.

From her smock, she pulled out a phillips screwdriver and opened an approximately one meter high cover that protected the power supply, in the heart of the room. After cutting off the electrical supply, she completed all of the necessary adjustments. Once that was done, she grabbed a small box, with which she could modify the gravity, in the event that Vegeta required an increase. Whether or not this box could withstand the new configuration, was another question altogether. But, as a technician, she had a relentless drive to accomplish any and all tasks given to her, no matter how difficult. All of a sudden, she had trouble pulling out the box. Somehow, it was stuck. Poking her head underneath the control panel, she tried reaching out for the culprit, with her right hand.

"What are you doing there, woman?" Bulma was startled and instinctively jerked her head up. As a result, the back of her skull slammed against the bottom of the desk and she hissed in pain. Just as she attached the last cable, she found herself scared to death. The unmistakable, gruff voice boomed through her head. "I do not recall, asking you to do that." 

His cynical undertone bore right into her soul and she could feel the throbbing pain her in head that would probably start swelling into a bruise, quite soon. She bit her lip and tentatively pulled her head, from underneath the desk. There he was, the arrogant prince himself, still garbed in his revealing training attire.

"No, you didn’t.” She answered, in the same crabby tone. “But, in case you don’t remember, my father asked me to finish your upgrades, all by myself. Unfortunately, he has no time for your gimmickry."

A barely audible snort was his only reply. Bulma frowned, somehow getting the feeling that he didn’t entirely believe her. But that hardly came as a surprise, given the fucked up-situation they were in. 

"If you let me work without further interference, I’ll be done in a few minutes and you can continue training, in peace.” She reassured him and finally got a good grip on the box, pulling it out further. Without paying him any mind, she opened the electronic kit and grabbed an even smaller screwdriver. However, he approached closer to her as she was fiddling with the console, making her more and more jumpy. But eventually he settled against the desk and she breathed an inward sigh of relief. He waited patiently, until she was finally done.

In all honesty, part of her wanted to strike up a nice, easygoing conversation, perhaps asking him how his training was going, whether or not he enjoyed his journey through space and what he saw there or something to that effect. But for some reason, she couldn’t even speak. Of course, Vegeta was never a conversationalist, so there was no hope of him making the situation less awkward than it currently was.

And so, minutes dragged on, with nothing asked or said and the heiress was able to take a closer look at the box.

"Damn it. It's not as easy as I’d hoped.”

"What is it?" Vegeta pulled away from the desk and stood with his arms crossed in front of her.

"It's not that easy to implement that upgrade.” She answered. “I need remove something and briefly replace a few of the parts."

“And, so what?” He scowled, after a short pause.

"Oh nice of you to ask!” The heiress replied, with raised brows. “To put it simply, there’ll be no adjustable gravity for a while! I hope you can live with that, at least until I can patch things up.” A low growl emanated from his chest, as she finished her explanation. Without going into any further details, she separated the box from the desk and rolled back the loose cables, securing them. Finally she closed up the cover.

"Listen, I don't wanna put a spoke in your wheel.” She added, in an attempt to placate him just a little. Still no reaction. She looked into the dark opals of her alien guest, trying to figure him out. Things were already so difficult, with the whole future dilemma dangling in front of them. “Listen.” She took a deep breath, gathering up whatever scarps of confidence she had. "I um- I didn’t know that- how can I put this?” A brief pause followed. “Look, I don't like this situation either, but it's not my fault, anymore than it is yours. It’s bad enough that Yamcha’s looking at me as if I’ve committed some heinous crime, but could  _you_  at least act normal, around me?" Bulma stood to her feet, with the electronic device in her hand, which she needed for further processing, staring into the unfriendly face of the Saiyan. At least he had the propriety to look her in the eye, albeit with a venomous glare that pervaded his dark opals.

Her breathing hitched, as he suddenly approached her, a hairsbreadth of distance separating the supposed ‘pair-to-be’. He brought his lips close to her left ear, whispering into her tingling canal, with his hot breath.

"Now you listen to me, woman!” He hissed. The slight breeze emanating from his mouth, spread goose pimples throughout her supple figure. "I don't give a shit what this kid told Kakarot. And do you know why?" The taut silence that ensued, seemed to go on for minutes on end, though it only lasted a few seconds. Bulma was transfixed in absolute shock, unable to utter a single sound, her mouth slightly ajar. With some forced effort, she shook her head in the negative, in order to deliver her reply. "First I was furious about this information. But after thinking about it, I realized something. His future is not ours. Maybe in his timeline there was something between us, but I don't care about that! In the end it's  _my_  decision, whether or not I choose to travel down that cursed road and believe me: I've already made my decision."

The Prince put some distance between them once again and turned away, with a grin. "There is no such a thing as fate. Only cause and effect. Do what you have to do, but I want the gravity room back in working order, as soon as possible." Her previously silent, labored breath, suddenly turned into a nervous gasp. His words accelerated her heartbeat and struck incessantly against her chest. What did he mean by that? Did he want to shun her? Or did he…

As if all of that wasn't enough, things took a turn for the worse when she looked behind the Saiyan, as he left the gravity room, walking past a certain encroacher, on his way out. Next to the entrance of the space capsule, stood none other than her boyfriend, Yamcha. Bulma could already feel her insides churning and the furious eyes of the ex-bandit only fueled the brewing turmoil, within her.


	3. Calculations

Yamcha waited until the Saiyan made his royal exit from the space capsule and continued to stand awkwardly still, until Vegeta was a good dozen metres away.

Bulma saw her boyfriend surveying the alien, from the corner of his eye. After some time they seemed to be alone and Yamcha engaged her in a talkfest. She was expecting a huge verbal lashing or an emotional outburst, which would really strain her nerves. Honestly, she was upset enough as it was. The former desert bandit ran a hand over his face, taking a few heavy breaths.

He hesitantly walked over until he was standing before her and worriedly peered into her eyes. "Has it already begun?" He asked, roving his right hand through his short, black hair.

“What?” Bulma looked at him, in confusion. “I don't understand. What do you mean by that?"

"Well you know that you’ll have a child together!” He seethed. “Are you checking each other out, already? I don't understand why. He’s a murderer, so why the hell would you- damn it! You were so close to him. I almost thought you two were kissing.”

Yamcha crossed his arms as he spoke and at first Bulma gave him a guilty, sympathetic look, but it slowly morphed into anger. Her right hand twitched and she reflexively delivered a hard, resounding slap, right across his face, the sound echoing through the gravity room. He could’ve blocked it of course, but didn’t.

"You IDIOT!” She shrieked. “Do you even realize how ridiculous you sound? Do you really think that I would ever betray you, with him? Are you completely insane?" To say that she was indignant was an understatement. Honestly, she understood his position, she really did, but his nasty aspersions, still hurt her. She didn't appreciate them at all.

Yamcha’s head slightly snapped right-ways, as a result of the blow. He turned back, giving her a heated glare.

"I don't trust him!” He growled. “Don't tell me that you had to be that close for a technical conversation. I don't regret what I said before."

Bulma winced, as she remembered how breathless and feeble she’d felt, when her Saiyan houseguest virtually pinned her against the gravity console. Perhaps he’d been a little too close for comfort, but she strongly doubted that he had any ulterior motives. His corresponding declaration was evidence enough of that. Apparently, he’d ‘made his decision’, but what did that even mean? Once again, a plethora of questions pervaded her muddled mind. The blue-haired woman was positive that Vegeta had no intentions of wooing her and neither did she, so all these doubts and misgivings concerning the future, were unwarranted, as far as she was concerned. The high and mighty Prince of all Saiyans and the beautiful, hyper-intelligent, Earth woman. She hardly knew which was worse: the idea that the two of them could have sex or that they would share a child together. She could certainly imagine Vegeta as a great warrior, or something of the sort, but definitely not a father figure of any kind.

"Have you lost your tongue?" Suddenly her boyfriend's voice cut through her meandering thoughts. She had been so deeply engrossed that she scarcely heard him. If the tension between them already raged so strongly then how would things ensue, for the next three years? Would she have to deal with such disputes, every single day? She didn’t have the patience or forbearance for it.

"You know what?” She started leaving the gravity room. "I'll give you two options on how things can go, from here on out. Either you trust me and we live happily ever after or you continue yapping on about ludicrous notions of me having an affair with Vegeta. But I don't think I can bear the second option that long, before I-” She abruptly stopped, thinking to herself. ‘What would I do, in that case?’

"Are you threatening me?" The ex-bandit clenched his teeth.

Bulma walked past Yamcha, before tilting her head towards him.

“No, I didn't mean it like that.” She rectified, with a smile. “It's a peace offer. If you don’t accept it, then it’s your loss, but don’t say I didn’t try." The Earthling warrior could hardly believe what she was saying, visibly shocked, as he surveyed her.

She really didn't want to split. But she still had to lay it on the line, so they wouldn’t break up- at least, not right away. Now that this whole future debacle was hanging in the air, it brewed a sense of resentment and jealousy in his heart, fueling doubts where none existed before. But there was more than just doubt, there was also mistrust. She had to save the relationship, in whatever way possible. She just had to.

~*~

Bulma retired to one of the laboratories. With her was an electric box to replace a component of the gravitron, in order to help facilitate an increase in gravitation. Irritated, she switched off the square device on her desk and sauntered into a nearby storage room, wherein she searched for the parts required to complete the upgrade. After detaching some cables and microchips from the storage room, she placed the additional material in a construction kit, before seating herself into the office chair.

She cupped her face between her palms, exhaling. Bulma felt really bad for leaving her boyfriend in the gravity room, to his own devices. But she had to call in the big guns. Yamcha was literally giving her no other choice. If he did decide to finally drop the matter and trust her, things would go along, a lot more smoothly. A range of ideas popped in her mind, with regards to how they could spend their time together. They could enjoy a nice, warm stay at a romantic hotel or have a candlelit dinner. However, so long as he was still being a stubborn ram, riddled with needless jealousy, the heiress would have to skimp on such notions. A relationship wrought with jealousy and mistrust could never last long. She really had thought quite far ahead, despite the future quandary, still fresh in her mind.

Slowly she took her palms off her face and firmly gripped the arms of her chair. She thought about her alleged son-to-be. His physiognomy revealed attributes of both her and Vegeta. Above all, he had inherited her dashing looks, she not-so-modestly realized. When she thought of the appearance of the young demi-saiyan, a smile hovered on her lips. Surely, he had to be quite popular with the ladies. Bulma would have liked to ask him how his life was, with the enduring threat of the androids. ‘Probably not so great.’ She thought.

Abruptly she straightened up and reached for a pen at her desk, when another thought struck her mind. The boy had told them that he was 17 years old. She dug out a blank piece of paper from the drawer, laying it out in front of her. She noted his age on the right-hand-side of the paper and then rummaged for a ruler in the same drawer.

Sketching a simple timeline, she wrote down 763 on the left-most side of it, which was the current year. In the middle of the line, she plotted an X and wrote down May 12th, 766: the arrival of the androids. Bulma chewed on the end of her pen and mentally sought to calculate an approximate date of birth, for the child.

 

Straining, she pressed her left index finger against her temple, as she tried to recall what Piccolo and Goku had told them, after the boy’s departure. Ah yes, they said that he lived in a future, twenty years ahead of this world. If that was true, then 783 would be the year in his timeline. Bulma plotted that date on the right-most section of her timeline and subtracted his age. The result was 766, the same year in which those monsters would emerge. Factoring in a standard deviation of about half a year, she came up with a rough approximation of the boy’s birth month: November or December, of the year 765.

Satisfied, she marked another number on her timeline and looked at it, in more detail. She was still missing something, namely, the nine-month pregnancy period. With a pounding heart, she illustrated another straight line, left of the X and drew a star at the end of it, however, she was just unable to write down the actual words: the conception of their son. Considering her calculations it would occur around a year before the arrival of the androids.

That meant that two years remained until...

Bulma put the pen aside and looked satisfied at her newly created timeline, which seemed pretty accurate in her opinion. "Why is Yamcha so upset? We could be happy for at least another two years before…” She whispered to herself, without really thinking. Wait, what the hell did she just say? Why was she even considering this? The conception of this boy shouldn’t happen, in the first place. She was beyond shocked, just how familiar she’d gotten with the preposterous idea. Bulma was far too caught up in the child, when she shouldn’t be. Even if she were interested in the Saiyan Prince or would be at some point, it wouldn't make much difference. Vegeta was cautious and on guard now, because he knew what could potentially arise out of a cohabitation between the two of them, though he was probably unaware of when it would supposedly take place. Bulma grinned at the thought of him drawing up a timeline, the way she just had. But it was just a thought - there’s absolutely no way that he’d be deigned to do such a thing.

A knock on the ajar door startled her. "Bulma... can I talk to you again?" It was Yamcha, standing in the hallway. His dejected voice set her on edge. However, before she could bid him entry into the lab, she had to hide the timeline she’d just drawn. If Yamcha saw that, he'd be furious and any ounce of trust he had for her, would instantly vanish. Sure, it didn’t imply any interest in Vegeta or anything, but her boyfriend would definitely be extremely suspicious, not to mention irate, if he discovered that she was curious enough about the future boy, to render a timeline of his conception and birth, even if it was only hypothetical.

"Wait a moment, it's a mess here.” She called out to him and hurriedly shoved the sheet and ruler back into the drawer, shutting it thereafter. Breathing a sigh of relief, she turned in the direction of the door. "Come on in.” She prompted and he did just that. “What is it?"

"It's about our fight in the gravity room.” He replied and took a few steps closer to her. "You were right. I overreacted. I should’ve trusted you because you've never betrayed my confidence before, but it made me furious, when I saw him so close to you."

"I understand.” Bulma whispered and stood up from her chair.

"I am such an idiot.” Yamcha sighed, shoulders sagging. He looked at her solemnly. “After clearing my head, I’ve put some serious thought into this whole thing and honestly, I think we ought to be glad to know what might happen!"

Bulma raised her eyebrows. Her boyfriend unwittingly appeared to have something in common with her alien houseguest. Vegeta was also glad to learn about what could’ve happened, since such knowledge would allow him to prevent it. But how could Yamcha possibly see it as something good? "I don't understand... What do you mean by that?" Bulma tremulously chewed on her lower lip.

“In the other timeline, I guess our futures selves had some unbridgeable differences and didn't put enough effort into their relationship.” He elucidated further. “But now that I’m aware of the repercussions, I won't give up on you, no matter what. We have to work on our relationship. As the saying goes, 'in good times and bad’." Bulma found it strange that he spoke in such a positive manner, but she knew where he was getting at. "I want to fight for you!"

The former desert bandit grabbed her hand and pulled her close to him. He hugged her and pressed her body very tightly against his. Bulma could feel his muscles shaking with anxiety. His hands moved through her blue hair and he pressed his lips to her forehead, several times. His kisses felt rough and coarse for some reason, but they harbored so much affection and... fear… as though he was afraid to lose her.

"I will always fight for you.” He vehemently proclaimed. “I never want to take a break again, when things aren’t going so well. From now on, I’ll always try and confront our problems head on, rather than avoid them. I don't want us to split up again. I'll do my best. I promise.” He murmured solemnly into her ear and kissed her cheek. "And I'll trust you."

Finally, his lips moved down to hers and he kissed her gently. Bulma returned the kiss and wrapped her arms, around his back. Before, she was just frozen stiff and stood there in confusion, as she heard his vow. He hadn’t often spoken to her in such a passionate, forthcoming manner. It was more than just some declaration of love. He wanted for them to stay together forever, no matter what.

The blue-haired woman broke the kiss and buried her thick hair into his neck, as she held onto him. "So what do you say?" He asked softly.

‘What should I say?’ Bulma mentally asked herself. She honestly didn't anticipate this and had expected Yamcha to be all pouty and grouchy, for the next several days, at least. She thought that he’d have decamped to the mountains, where he could brood to himself and deal with his jealousy. But that wasn’t the case. He probably knew that if he behaved so stubbornly and distrustfully, he’d only succeed in driving her away from him and possibly towards… Vegeta.

It still seemed surreal, given how he’d blown the event in the gravity room, completely out of proportion but now, the former desert bandit had suddenly decided to trust her and yet… this ‘happiness’ seemed so forced, as if it was not meant to be and was simply thrust upon her, in an attempt to prevent the inevitable.

Out of nowhere, Bulma caught herself imagining what this moment would feel like, with someone else. What would it be like, to be blanketed beneath Vegeta’s strapping arms? It seemed extremely bizarre, inconceivable and nigh impossible, but for some reason that made it all the more thrilling. How would it feel to inhale his virile musk through her nostrils, as he held her against his firm chest? She tried to remember his scent, from the gravity room incident, but for some reason, she couldn’t.

Instead, she inhaled in a mixture of Yamcha's perfume and body odor. Mingled with that pleasant aroma, it instantly befuddled her. Everything was so familiar, safe and simple with him. Why would she ever want to relinquish that, because something else appeared to be more exciting?

Bulma slightly lifted her head and looked into the dark eyes of her boyfriend. "That sounds... great.” She whispered, closing her eyes for another kiss.


	4. Efforts

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please be aware that the Doujin and the Fanfiction slightly differ! The Doujin is based on this Fanfiction!

The following days went by calmly. A bit too calmly, Bulma thought. During the day she focused on her work, which involved modifying the core components of the graviton. Here and there, she annoyed Vegeta as if nothing had happened between them. When his training room was finally fully operational again, he proceeded to bombard her with questions at almost any time of the day. Although she was still confused about the last comment that he had made to her, for the most part she had no major issues with him save for his cool manner that never failed to annoy her. She no longer thought about what Goku had originally tried to hide from them. She had more or less come to terms with the information by now. In addition, she had slowly resigned herself to the fact that things wouldn’t progress that far anyways, due to a stubborn Saiyan, who clearly wasn’t going to make any advances. Nevertheless, he spoke normally to her but kept a wide berth between them. He acted far more like an adult than a certain boyfriend did, Bulma discovered with surprise. 

With each passing day, things became easier and more bearable, for them at least. Although Yamcha had sworn that he wouldn’t be so jealous, things didn't exactly go according to plan. It was true that he hadn’t made any more scenes, but when Vegeta was closeby, he still had his eyes locked on the two of them. And whenever Bulma glimpsed him from the corner of her eyes, she could literally read the words, “I see you, don’t do anything stupid,” from off his face. As far as that went, she just ignored his inappropriate behaviour. The former desert bandit at least said nothing about it, and it wasn’t as if her and Vegeta had done anything wrong. Again and again, she had to tell herself to take the high road and so that’s what she did. 

At the end of the week, she finally completed the long-awaited gravity upgrade. She really should have been able to finish it a lot sooner, but she had almost inadvertently lost track of time. The blue haired woman had taken several breaks to pore over the timeline. Over and over again, she had added more notes to it, which would give her information about the course of the near future. Sometimes she really hated herself for being so fixated on a piece of paper and for envisioning the young man with the lavender hair. But it wasn’t only his existence that distracted her. Her thoughts revolved around time travel and how timelines unfolded. She had never really concerned herself with it before, seeing how it was a little taboo to meddle with time. But what did she care now, if the androids were going to make the future go to shit anyways? Bulma had taken out her tablet and had read numerous articles about time travel. The most interesting ones concerned the Grandfather Paradox. This described the principle of a man who travels back in time to kill his own grandfather, which would subsequently prevent his own father and himself from being born. It was a logical inconsistency, and the inventor tried to find parallels in it that corresponded to her own situation. 

But what if it were inevitable? That the conception of her son could not be prevented? That it was her fate to have a fling with the Saiyan? These were all just theories. It wasn’t like Bulma could know whether the future of the young man would change if the androids were defeated. But that had to happen, after all, that was the purpose of him coming to visit them in the past in the first place. What point would there be in warning them if nothing would change for him? Questions and more questions tormented her, and she really would have liked to have more answers instead. There were these two possibilities, but which one was more likely, she could not even begin to guess. If the first theory were true, then that would mean that she and Vegeta would never...but would it really be so bad to not start something with the stubborn Saiyan? It’s not as if this world needed another one of his kind, especially with him as the father. 

  
~*~  


She now stood in front of the gravity ship on the lawn of Capsule Corporation. Vegeta was training inside it, although at the moment he hadn’t initiated any increased gravitation. Not yet anyways. In her hand, she had the electronic device that she had built. The Saiyan prince hated having his training disrupted, but if she’d come running to him with news that his wish for increased gravity could be granted, he would let her have her way whether he liked it or not. 

Bulma took a deep breath and peeked in one of the ship windows so that she could observe her guest. Right now he was performing a series of punches in the air with his back turned to her. To get an even better look, she raised herself up on her tiptoes, and cautiously peered inside. She tried to figure out what her future self could have found so engaging about this fighter. After all, he was arrogant, rude, powerfully built...but he was also short. He was almost the same height as her. The inventor found that incredibly unsexy. She loved tall men who she could gaze up at. When she thought about Yamcha, and his tall height...

“What did he possess that a woman could find attractive?” she asked herself as she continued to observe Vegeta’s kicks and punches, that he performed while being completely unaware that he was being watched. Shortly after, she saw his face and had to admit that this clear visual of him did not look so bad at a second glance. Another positive thing she noted was that he always gave his all during his training. He always gave 100% to things. If she thought about it, her boyfriend only spent just half the amount of time preparing for the androids as Vegeta did, even though he required much more training than a super strong alien would. It was not even a bit of a surprise then that Yamcha was always lagging behind...The Saiyan in the ship was at least always spurring himself on and it really seemed like he was getting something out of it. 

“What are you doing there?” she heard a familiar voice suddenly ask from behind her. She jumped up startled and almost dropped her device, which she awkwardly caught in her hand. She nervously positioned the electronics to her other hand and turned towards Yamcha. He already looked extremely jealous again and she wondered whether he had heard her conversing with herself while she stared at Vegeta. 

“Nothing. Absolutely nothing. I only wanted to check if Vegeta was inside. I finished the upgrade,” she explained matter-of-factly, indicating to the object in her hand.

“You were checking for quite a long time to see if our dear prince was inside,” he remarked snappishly with his eyes betraying the rage that he had tried so hard to suppress.

“You’re imagining things.” Bulma quickly turned away, even though she knew that she was lying with that statement. Of course she was interested in watching the black haired fighter. But she had only done so due to her amazement at the prospect of having a possible relationship with him that was so absurd that she had to think about what she could even be persuaded to find attractive in him. But she could not and did not even want to reveal this line of thinking to her boyfriend. It would most likely be misinterpreted as something that was not true in the least. So she left it go, and turned further away from him, while continuing to ignore his piercing look. Without even looking back at him, she knocked briefly at the entrance to the ship then entered without any further warning. 

“What is it?” she heard the Saiyan curse, who was obviously feeling inconvenienced. 

“Take it easy,” she suggested. She walked right past him until she was standing in front of the console that she had fixed a couple days before. “Your upgrade is ready. Are you quite sure that you want to try it out?” A small wink accompanied this friendly and almost flirtatious question. A slight growl from Vegeta told her that she could carry on, so she immediately got to work. It did not escape her notice that Yamcha was still standing in the doorway. Nevertheless, she continued as planned. Bulma unscrewed the cover of the console and put it to the side. With her left hand, she reached into the lower section where she retrieved a wire that she attached to her device. She did everything in a flash and she could have completed the entire process within a few seconds. However, having her boyfriend standing right there made her irate and she decided to take extra time. 

He had promised her that he wouldn’t be so jealous. He had promised to fight for their happiness. So he should have been able to show her the proof of that right now. She hated herself a little for making him suffer. But she had to toughen him up. What doesn’t kill you only makes you stronger. While she clumsily fiddled with the wires, she thought about the last few days or rather about the last few nights. For all of this week, the former desert bandit had gone to a lot of trouble to satisfy her in bed. Granted, they had been together for ages, so it was quite understandable that after a few years they had fallen into a rut. But the daily routine in their sex life wasn’t present this week. It felt like it was their first time again. Yamcha normally didn’t give her any prolonged kisses during sex. But what she had experienced this week couldn’t have been more different. He had kissed her long and passionately all over her body. He had really made an effort. It was refreshing, but it still bothered her somewhat as well. That was because she could feel the extent of his efforts. It was too much. She certainly enjoyed being intimate with him and he felt the same with her. But when there was so much pressure behind it, it only ended up missing the mark of its intended target. Or did he think that she wouldn’t notice how strangely he had been acting?

“What’s taking so long?” Vegeta’s voice brought her back from her thoughts and her face reddened a little. If the two men only knew what she had been thinking…though apparently he had noticed that she was not entirely focused. Bulma tried in earnest to hurry up and had everything successfully hooked up in no time. She pushed the part with all of the connections back into the console, closed it with the cover and activated the gravitational program. But to really test it out, the chamber had to be completely closed. She had left the door open, in front of which her boyfriend Yamcha was still standing...

“Can I start it now?” the Saiyan prince asked while nervously tapping his fingers across his crossed arms. 

“I would like to test it out beforehand, at least on its lowest settings. To do this, the door will have to be closed.” At these words, she stared pointedly at her boyfriend, who almost felt caught, even though his presence had not remained undetected this entire time. In any case, he heard her and closed the door behind him. Bulma lightly sighed when she saw that he hadn’t gone outside like she had hoped. However, it didn’t really matter. After she conducted a security check, she increased the gravity to 2 gs. Even she could withstand that. If this worked, it would be up to the Saiyan to try out the rest of the settings. Her body felt unbelievably heavy. The gravitational force made her weigh over one hundred kilos. At least she now knew what it would feel like if she ever became overweight. With difficulty, she switched the gravity off with her index finger and panted slightly. “It looks like...everything is working. According to the simulation, the increased gravitational force should also be functioning just fine. But naturally, I can’t test that out for you,” she grinned and put everything back to its ground state. Vegeta grinned with satisfaction and she even saw a light shine in his eyes that reflected the anticipation he felt. Bulma had to smile when she saw the Saiyan’s drive. As she passed him by, she tapped him on his bare chest and whispered, “Have fun.” She winked at him once again and went to the exit of the chamber, where Yamcha still stood as dumbfounded as ever. The blue haired woman braced herself for him to do something because she had sort of provoked him while she had been talking to the Saiyan. But he had to get used to it. Once and for all.

Without saying a word, she opened the door and left the chamber as quickly as possible. Her boyfriend must have been following her because she heard how loudly the door banged behind her. “What was that supposed to be?” he hissed at her. 

Bulma turned to him and planted her hands on her hips. “What was what supposed to be? I installed the device for him. Now there’s peace and we can once again focus on the important things in life,” she explained curtly. 

“Don’t give me that. I’ve had to accept or rather, I’ve had to swallow how you’ve been treating me. But don’t think that you control the strings and that you can get away with acting like that, because you can’t. You’ve never behaved in the way that you just did today.”

Uh oh. The inventor had probably overdone it somewhat in there. But that was all she’d done. Excluding that, she hadn’t acted out at all this week. “I was only joking around. Don’t you believe me? You were looking at me so angrily that I couldn’t help but exaggerate things. I just think your jealousy is uncalled for and pointless.” 

“I didn’t find it so funny,” he retorted snippily and his angry expression changed back to sad puppy dog eyes that he had already used on her a few days earlier. “I have really been trying with you…”

“I’ve noticed. But the point isn’t for you to start acting completely differently compared to before. I love you Yamcha, just the way you are. I love our sex life, just the way it is. So let’s just return everything to the way it was before. The only thing I wanted was for you to trust me. But apparently a wink is reason enough for you to freak out on me…” An awkward silence quickly spread between them and this only made Bulma feel even worse. She had vowed to prove her love for him but what had she done instead? She had stomped on that vow, first by unabashedly watching the Saiyan and then by...well, she wouldn’t exactly call it flirting. “I will restrain myself. I promise. As I said, I love you, please forgive me.” 

“And who’s to say that you won’t do it again sometime if the impulse strikes you? What are you going to do the next time you want to provoke me? Will you kiss him then? No, I want you to make a decision.” 

“Kiss him? I would never kiss him! Your imagination is running away with you again. And what’s this about a decision?” Just when she had apologized and felt bad about how she’d been treating him, he had to resume throwing these wild accusations at her that were so far removed from reality. The blue haired woman was furious; however, she still wanted to reconcile with him. 

“It’s very easy. You just have to choose, me or him. But one of us must go.” 

Bulma’s eyes widened at her options. Was her boyfriend really being serious right now? Was he going to force her to kick Vegeta out and to refuse him any help? Her mouth was wide open and stiff and no words could leave her lips as she was still so shocked. 

“I thought that you loved me. So the decision should have been easy for you,” he added, looking hurt. “But it seems to me that this is no longer the case.” He angrily balled his fists and walked past her. He remained standing closeby and she could feel his gaze fixed to the back of her head. “You have until tomorrow to decide. Then either I’ll go or the nutjob will.” 

After this ultimatum, she heard the loud steps of the fighter in the grass as he departed. When she couldn’t hear any more sounds except for the chirping of the birds that flew in the sky, she could finally give free rein to her feelings. As Yamcha left her field of vision, some tears formed in her eyes and since he was already gone, she could outwardly display them. He shouldn’t know that she was taking this so hard. He wouldn’t understand why she was crying, because in his mind he was right. If she loved him then the decision should be really easy. So why wasn’t it? Sniffling, she brushed a few tears aside with her right hand then started bawling violently. It wasn’t so much from the decision that she had to make but rather from the realization that had arisen from it. 

“ _If you love me,”_ his words repeated in her head once more. She had just said it. The blue haired woman had said the three magic words. But if she delved deeper into her feelings, she had to reconsider to what extent were these words still true. In what sense did they correspond to her actual feelings. Because now that she mulled it over, she didn’t know. She didn’t know whether she loved him enough to be able to make a decision. But she had to decide. Deep down she knew what the only correct decision could be. Bulma knew it clearly now. But who would she go tell first? Yamcha or her extraterrestrial guest? Who should be informed of her verdict first? How would they react to this change? 


	5. Changes

She had actually succeeded. One had to hand it her - although she was of a curious and easily irritable nature, she was also a technical genius of the highest level. Vegeta was extremely pleased with the ship’s increased gravity potential. Initially, he had been somewhat apprehensive since she had designated him as the guinea pig that would test everything out for the first time. But everything seemed to run smoothly without any complications. His body was soaked with sweat and was still twitching and trembling from his intense training. He had actually never had a problem withstanding enhanced gravity before and until now he had never undergone such an immense training experience. He had cautiously begun with 150 gs, which would allow his body to adapt to the new settings. Vegeta didn’t want to waste any more time. He constantly thought about what Kakarot had already accomplished and every time his thoughts drifted to his rival, he became excessively angry about the difference in power that separated them. But he knew that these angry thoughts wouldn’t help him achieve his desired goal. He was quite glad that the gravity chamber was pretty self-contained, and that once inside he wasn’t able to detect the fighting power of the others. If he could perceive their shows of strength then he would have most likely just been distracted from his training. Although his perception was somewhat limited in his training room that did not mean that he was blind. Of course he had noticed that Bulma had watched him during his workouts. From the first glance, he had sensed her eyes trailing over his toughened body. Vegeta wasn’t sure what she was thinking or what was going on inside her head. She still had that weakling for a boyfriend so he didn’t know why she was staring at him. 

Furthermore, she hadn’t made any advances towards him or done anything with a similar intent. Although, when she had installed the upgrade for him, she had actually been pretty bold. However, the Saiyan no Ouji saw right through her weird and obvious tricks. Did she think that he was that stupid and wouldn’t notice? Needless to say, he had seen the human fighter lingering in the doorway and he had also caught how Yamcha had jealously looked over at him. And not only that, but Bulma was always sneaking furtive glances over her shoulder to determine if her boyfriend knew that she was watching him train. It was almost as if she were just using Vegeta to make her boyfriend jealous. But why would she be motivated to do that? The Saiyan could not comprehend any of her actions. In any case, the prince hadn’t said a single word regarding this strange situation. In the end, it wasn’t his concern how these Earthlings dealt with their power struggles. If Yamcha could not control his woman, then that was his problem. No matter what was going on he just wanted to stay out of it. Just to be safe, he had already cleared things up with Bulma days earlier when he had told her in no uncertain terms that the present time had nothing to do with the future. If he thought back to when he had tantalizingly let her know that he had already decided what the course of the future would be, he now had to reconsider and admit that he had been lying a little with that declaration. More or less…

Strictly speaking he didn’t want to think too much about it. It also didn’t interest him in the least how the future would ultimately turn out for her. The only thing that was important now was the destruction of the androids. And when that was over, then hopefully he’d triumph over his adversary Kakarot who had been making him look ridiculous for far too long. 

Yes, that was exactly how he felt, ridiculous. He had become an object of ridicule thanks to the actions of the other Saiyan. In retrospect, he was ashamed to have begged Kakarot to kill Freeza back on Namek. And then there was also the transformation into a Super Saiyan that he himself had been denied. The straw that finally broke the camel’s back though was Kakarot’s return from Yadrat that had brought everything to a head. His rival’s new ability of instant transmission was not something that Vegeta thought necessary to master. Although it seemed quite useful, the prince wasn’t envious of Kakarot’s newly acquired skill. What bothered him instead was the arrogant posturing of Kakarot and that boy from the future who could also transform into a Super Saiyan. That squirt wasn’t even 18 years old and he could achieve the transformation. And what had he accomplished? He, the prince of all Saiyans, who was far older and far more experienced, had managed with great difficulty to master 150x Earth’s normal gravity. It was just crazy. The idea that this boy would be his son did not offer him any solace. In fact, it had quite the opposite effect - it embittered him even more. Thus, dealing with the Earth woman was the least of his worries. It was just one of many things that occupied his mind. Yes, she was the least of his concerns or at least that’s what he told himself. 

  
~*~  


Vegeta was frustrated as he exited the shower. He grabbed a large towel from off of the dresser and roughly dried his wet body off with it. His muscles were still throbbing from his training, maybe he had overdone it a little. The Saiyan wanted to get a quick bite to eat and then finally catch a few hours of sleep. After doing that, his body would return to normal. All he needed was more time to adjust, and it wasn’t like his body wasn’t already used to extreme gravity. Although it was something Vegeta wanted to avoid thinking about, he couldn’t help but ponder over how quickly Kakarot had progressed with his training. Vegeta put on clean underwear that he had left on top of the dresser then stared intently at his own reflection in the overhanging mirror. Lost in his thoughts, he wondered what his rival’s big secret was. How was he able to surpass his limits over and over again? And in such a short span of time too? What drove him to reach new heights? What made him so different and special?

The freshly showered Saiyan exhaled in exasperation and pulled on a new training suit, which had also been lying on top of the dresser. He knew that he shouldn’t always be so hard on himself in his pursuit to overcome the constant rivalry between him and Kakarot. But that was as impossible an idea as it would be for him to shed his own skin. Vegeta ran his fingers through his hair a few times until his hair started to dry then without further ado he headed towards the kitchen. It was already night time and the family of the blue haired woman had finished eating dinner awhile ago, but they always remembered to leave something for him, which was the case tonight too. In joyful anticipation, he opened the refrigerator and took out a large plate of gyozas. There hadn’t been anything more leftover from dinner? His first look at the refrigerator’s contents wasn’t very promising.

With some disappointment, he put the plate on the dining table and fished for a sauce in the fridge that would go with his food. He found a note attached to one of the sauce bottles that informed him that it should be eaten with the gyoza. The handwriting clearly belonged to the woman’s mother who liked to decorate his food with messages. Vegeta gave the note some thought before putting the bottle of sauce on the table alongside his meal. He believed that he had already eaten these things once before. They were dumplings filled with meat and cabbage. Once he had polished off the first few pieces, he became mad that he hadn’t been left a larger amount. They were absolutely delicious. He had to admit that the food here on Earth tasted really good. If he thought about what he had been forced to eat in the past, there was simply no comparison. There were light years of quality between them. The canteen at Freeza’s base of operations had mostly just served the same protein-rich porridge that didn’t taste like much of anything. The purpose of that bland food was just to maintain the strength of the fighters. Culinary delights had been withheld by Freeza’s high ranking commanders. They had deprived the others of all luxuries, not only food. But the fighter didn’t want to think back to those days anymore. 

The Saiyan no Ouji savoured the silence that filled the room. But the silence didn’t last for long. The sound of tentative footsteps coming from the staircase assaulted his ears and they only stopped when _she_ entered the kitchen. Bulma stood irritably in front of him wearing short pink pyjamas and stared at him with dismay. Vegeta was chewing on the last of the gyozas as she continued to look at him questioningly. However, it seemed as though she didn’t quite know what she wanted to say. Her demeanour betrayed a certain nervousness. She was repeatedly crossing and then unfolding her arms. The blue haired woman didn’t even seem to know what to do beyond just standing there. The fighter swallowed his chewed up mouthful of food and went to grab the next piece. Her presence in front of him was beginning to become agitating. It would have been a different story had she just sat down at the table and ate something too or if she would have at least said something. But she just stood there as the mood between them changed with every passing second. 

“What is it?” he finally asked her while he dipped the dumplings into the sauce. Normally, he couldn’t be bothered to ask about other people’s emotional welfare but he had to admit that it would be a bit interesting to find out what was going on with her. After all, it did seem like she wanted something from him. Her left hand wandered over to a chair and her fingers nervously rocked back and forth over it. She responded with a small breath that didn’t quite manage to answer his question. There was an uneasiness reflected in her blue eyes. She was also looking at him before quickly averting her gaze elsewhere, either to the ceiling or the fridge, so that she wouldn’t have to face looking him right in the eyes. And then it was upon him again, that flustered and incensed look of hers that never quit and that he was now unknowingly submerging himself in. He tried to uncover the thought process hidden behind her eyes, but suddenly his attempts were thwarted. 

“It’s just…” she began after almost an eternity as her other hand also reached to grip the back of the chair. God, what was making this woman so damn nervous? Her increasing unrest was going to infect him too. Vegeta saw her nervously run her tongue over her upper lip before she finally continued talking. “I have to tell you something. It’s very important.”

His ears pricked up at that statement. Was this some kind of joke? She couldn’t be referring to...He had to immediately put a stop to this conversation before she said something that would make things even more awkward. “Listen carefully,” he interjected, as he grabbed another dumpling and squeezed it roughly in his hand. “You don’t need to bring up that subject _again_. I thought that I had made myself clear. I’m sick and tired of always having to talk about _us_.” That should be enough to shut her up, he thought as he finally chomped down on the gyoza that he had been pummelling in his hand. He looked directly at her and saw that her blue eyes had widened in astonishment. Her eyebrows furrowed markedly and now her nervousness was morphing into anger. 

“You are...you are such an idiot,” she blasted back at him. “Just forget it!” And then she stormed out the kitchen just as quickly as she had come. Vegeta heard her footsteps bounce off the stairs followed by the sounds of the opening and then loud slamming of a door. He gobbled down the rest of his dinner in satisfaction. It was apparent that she didn’t even really want to discuss whatever it was with him anyways. Now that she had run off, he actually became a lot more interested in what she had to say. He wondered if it had something to do with the strange scene in the gravity chamber. After all, he didn’t know what had happened with the woman and the weakling after they had finished squabbling. The whole situation was slowly becoming quite entertaining to him and the Saiyan discovered that he had a burning interest in how everything would turn out. 

  
~*~  


Bulma was still quite taken aback by the confrontation with her boyfriend. 

_ If you love me... _

The words echoed in her head once more. Yes, she loved him. But for him to demand such a decision from her was not fair at all. On the one hand, she could understand where he was coming from and could put herself in his place. What would happen if the situation were the complete reverse? How happy would she be if there was a good looking female Saiyan strutting around her house?

Had she really just thought he was  _ good looking _ ?

The blue haired woman was lying on her bed in her pyjamas, and she was feeling very annoyed with herself that she had used such a flattering term to describe Vegeta. The dilemma she found herself in had nothing to do with Vegeta’s appearance. But would Yamcha be reacting in the same way if the Saiyan had been a hulk with an ugly face? Or if he were a gangly teen who had not yet reached adulthood? If she phrased it like that, his appearance was definitely playing a role in all of this. The former desert bandit had already felt threatened by his supposed rival because Vegeta was incredibly strong and as such was physically superior to him. Did Yamcha now think that the Saiyan had an advantage over him in other areas too?

That would explain it. Her boyfriend would have never had such a drastic reaction otherwise. The more she thought about it, the more she understood his fears and his steadily growing insecurity. And she had played a major role in creating that. 

She once again regretted using the Saiyan no Ouji in a crude attempt to get a rise out of her boyfriend. Her guilty conscience had finally worn her down to the point where she was worrying about the state of her relationship with Yamcha. Moreover, it had helped her reach a decision. If she didn’t make the correct decision she would lose the man she loved and that was the last thing she wanted to happen. 

Bulma knew that she had to kick Vegeta out. Although it would be difficult for her to do, he would probably be unfazed by it. She had already thought about what she would do in the off chance that he kicked up a fuss. She would give him the gravity ship and include other provisions and anything else that he might need. That was the least that she could do for him.

She just wanted to get it over with and tell the former desert bandit that she had decided. But she was going to have to wait, since Yamcha had left the premises of Capsule Corporation shortly after their dispute. Her parents had informed her that he was coming back tomorrow though. The blue haired woman was certain that he wouldn’t want to see her until she had enough time to think over her decision. Perhaps he was trying to prevent her from having a knee-jerk reaction and making the wrong choice. Several hours passed and her decision remained the same. How could she possibly choose differently? Vegeta was just...he was just a stranger. She really didn’t know anything about him. Sure, he was interesting but that didn’t take precedence over what she and Yamcha had. 

But once again, she couldn’t help but think of the future that would no longer be possible with this decision. That realization dangled over her head like the sword of Damocles and made her heart wrench. This was the only thing that bothered her about her decision. But why was it bothering her? She should be happy that she was going to prevent that future from ever happening. She now had the opportunity to build a better future with her boyfriend. This was just a bitter pill for her to swallow and nothing more, right?

Bulma rose from her bed and resolved to never contemplate that future again. Fuck the future. Fuck this potential son. What mattered was the present. A glance at the clock revealed that it was already quite late, but not too late. Vegeta was probably still awake, he might even still be sitting in the kitchen. She had to tell him now, it was now or never. It was difficult to leave her room but once she had plucked up the courage to do so, she raced down the stairs in the direction of the kitchen. Just as she had suspected, the Saiyan no Ouji was still seated at the table and eating his dinner without a care in the world. 

Bulma nervously went up to the table and crossed her arms. How should she begin this conversation? She felt his penetrating gaze upon her that was demanding an explanation. 

While breathing heavily, she untangled her arms and deliberated upon some words to say to him, which she could not seem to combine into a meaningful sentence. She slowly realized that she must look extremely worked up. A blush had spread all the way to her head, and she had to really try to conceal her inner turmoil that was dying to burst free.

“Is something wrong?” 

She heard the voice of her guest who was addressing her in an irritated tone that wanted answers. 

Why was she really here again? Right now the reason was escaping her. She had to remind herself of what she had resolved to do while she had been in her room. Bulma had already told him that it was important. Yes, that sounded right. And now that she finally had his undivided attention, she would deliver her news that he had to immediately leave her house. 

But as it often was, things turned out differently than she thought they would. The words that he had interrupted her with had thrown her completely for a loop. She was once again cast back into her thoughts. She had to reconsider what he had confessed to her in the gravity chamber. He had claimed to have already made a decision. But he had in no way expressed what that decision was. He had told her fuck all. Bulma was confused all over again about what he had been hinting at that day. She had no idea and couldn’t make any sense out of it. On yet another occasion, she had gotten sidetracked from her task, so she angrily stomped back to her room. With a full load of rage, she opened the door to her room and threw herself in disgust across her bed. 

How had he managed to divert her attention away from her real purpose?

But this was not her last chance to tell him. For today though, she would leave well enough alone. She knew when the alien warrior started his training in the morning. 

Before he could even set foot in the gravity ship, she would present him with a fait accompli, that he had to go. Yes, that’s exactly how she’d do it. 

She felt completely beat as she leaned over to her nightstand and reached for her Blackberry. No new messages or calls. She switched over to the messages screen and wrote a new text. 

_I kicked Vegeta out. Don’t let me sleep alone again tomorrow night._

_...xxx B. _

The message was intended for Yamcha. Bulma pressed the send button and then set her phone to silent. She dropped the phone beside her on the bed and closed her eyes. She hadn’t actually lied. She would tell the Saiyan to leave tomorrow. Although, she had to get her plan in motion before Yamcha realized that she had sent the message a little prematurely. 


	6. Little White Lies

A nearby buzzing noise suddenly woke the black-haired fighter from his sleep. He hadn’t really been sleeping in the proper sense, he had just been dozing instead. The last few days had taken a great toll on his nerves and it was only with pain and misery that he had forced his body to rest. With a small grunt, he turned to the right side of his bed, and reached for his phone that lay on top of the nightstand. Yamcha had to stretch a bit to reach the phone. Normally, he wouldn’t check to see who had messaged him when it was this late at night, but he had hoped that one person in particular would contact him. He finally retrieved the phone and with his other hand, he touched the screen to remove the lock. He was so drowsy that it was a real effort to keep his eyes open so that he could find out why his phone had vibrated. “A new message,” he sighed and pressed on the inbox icon that opened to a brief notification. A queasy feeling overcame him as the screen updated.

_ I kicked out Vegeta. Don’t let me sleep alone again tomorrow night _

_...xxx B. _

His eyes widened in surprise after reading the text. Could it be? Had she really done it? The former desert bandit stared at the message for a long time and read it over and over again. He slowly realized its significance. A grin spread across his face as it hit him that this was no dream. The blue-haired woman had finally kicked out the dangerous Saiyan who had just been an unpleasant person in his eyes. His phone display switched off as he basked in his joyous thoughts. Suddenly, he sat up and jumped out from his bed. The fighter was about to grab his jacket when doubts began to arise in him again. He carefully lowered himself back onto his bed and once more contemplated the message that she had sent him. Without realizing it, he moved his lips soundlessly as he read, making sure to memorize every detail. 

How had she managed to throw him out? If it were really true, he wondered what she had done to convince him to seek shelter elsewhere. Yamcha would not just blindly believe that she had actually performed this miracle. He would have liked to get up and immediately fly to her house, so that he could be reunited with her. And that way she wouldn’t be alone, just like she had requested in her message. 

_ Don’t let me...sleep alone again... _

But he could not. If he immediately responded to her call, then that would only prove that she had the upper hand. He would hold out until tomorrow morning. Yes, maybe it was her turn to be kept in suspense. She had after all toyed with his emotions. It’s not like he was planning to do the same thing to her but he had to make sure that she suffered a little too. Nevertheless, this was a positive outcome for everyone, or at least for the both of them. The fighter returned the phone to the nightstand and lay back down in bed. Maybe now he’d be able to sleep a lot more soundly knowing that she had chosen him. 

God, he had been through hell in the past week. He had been tormented again and again by nightmares where he could clearly see in his mind’s eye, the two of them coming closer and closer together until...Just the thought of that Saiyan touching her soft skin almost drove him insane. Bulma was his girlfriend, his destiny. Nothing and no one would ever come between them. Especially not an insignificant alien who had dared to try to trespass on his territory. 

Furthermore, he doubted whether Vegeta actually had a serious interest in her in the first place. He was confident that the cold-blooded murderer was simply incapable of any deep and genuine feelings. Even if, and god forbid...even if something were to develop between Bulma and the prince, Yamcha was sure that no real emotions would be involved. In his opinion, Vegeta was just a criminal who would only take advantage of her. Vegeta was still a man like any other, whose needs he might just want to satisfy with his girlfriend. But besides that, whatever else lay in the Saiyan’s realm of consciousness was entirely unimaginable to him. 

But if that were the case, why would his girlfriend even allow the monkey to interact with her at all? The only explanation he could think of was that she was always too eager to know everything. The unknown irritated her and Yamcha had to admit that the alien was brimming with mystery. Maybe he was even a little too  _ mysterious _ , which was probably why was he still thinking about this. He turned to his side and stared into the darkness that surrounded his room. She had decided. Surely, she had acted rationally and had weighed all the variables. She clearly wouldn’t choose someone who had once wanted to destroy the Earth...or who still wanted to, right?

He turned over again and thought back to the day when he and Kuririn had been revived thanks to the Namekian dragon balls. Happiness had overwhelmed them both at finally being back in each other’s arms. But the joyous reunion had been short-lived because shortly after that, he had learned that the man who had killed him was living the same house as his girlfriend. She had told him quite casually that she had offered Vegeta a place in her home and that he had even received a private room. Yamcha understood why she had sheltered the Namekians. But what grounds did the miserable Saiyan have for being in her house? It must have been the most natural thing in the world for her to offer a murderer a place to sleep. Had she felt sorry for him? The former desert bandit hadn’t been present when this arrangement had been made. If he had been alive, then the whole thing would have probably never happened. But he had finally come to terms with the entire situation. Vegeta had never really interfered in their private life and he had mostly kept to himself. As a result of this unexpected peace, Yamcha slowly came to accept that he was living in the same house as a murderer. Until that day...

The day where Freeza had paid the Earth a little visit. First, he had been filled with fear and panic that he was going to lose his life again. And then...

Then there was this boy. Yamcha didn’t know why, but he had immediately liked the teenager. He had this quiet and mature air to him. He had not found it suspect that he had been wearing clothes embossed with the Capsule Corporation logo. If he had given it more thought, he would have just come to the conclusion that the boy was a big fan of the company. But on that day, they had had no time to be concerned with such trifles. The series of events that followed had distracted him from the obvious. First there was Freeza, then the boy who could also become a Super Saiyan and then...

Yamcha unconsciously ran his fingers across his forehead. He had not been able to process the information. Was this boy from the future, who he found extremely likeable, really the son of that wretched Saiyan? No, he just couldn’t believe it. He didn’t know what was worse, that he had harboured sympathy for the bastard, or the revelation that his girlfriend was the supposed mother of him. Since that day, he had been consumed with tremendous jealousy. He had never thought that he was someone who could find it in himself to be so insanely jealous. But after that encounter, his life had abruptly changed. Nothing was the same as before. 

He should now be in the clear though. His fears should disappear since Bulma had unequivocally chosen him as opposed to the future, Vegeta and this other Saiyan. 

But then why was he still uncertain? Why did he have this strange feeling despite knowing that in the end, she had picked him and that she only loved him? 

Was it a bad omen? Or maybe the future was just trying to catch up to them. 

~*~

The following morning came quicker than expected. The many thoughts and fantasies he had envisioned, had eventually lulled him to sleep. He woke up to the feeling of something fluffy on his cheek and to the sunlight gently streaking over him.  

“Yamcha, it’s already 10 o’clock,” he heard the voice of his friend say. He slowly opened his eyes and as expected, he saw the shapeshifter hovering in front of him. 

“Good morning Puar,” the fighter greeted his fluffy friend and then pushed him gently to the side. He wearily got up and stretched his arms away from his body. He had probably slept long enough. His capsule house had at least been set up not far away from Capsule Corporation. He could be by Bulma’s side within minutes. 

“Where are we going to train today?” While Yamcha was getting up, Puar went right beside the bed to ask him about their plans for the day. The fighter took off his nightshirt and dropped it on the floor beside the bed. In addition, he took off his pants and underwear as well. For his girlfriend’s sake, he’d get dressed today. One really couldn’t tell what would happen after their reconciliation...

“No, we’re not going to train today. I have some personal matters to attend to,” he proclaimed cheerfully while Puar stared at him with some surprise. His little friend was only partially aware of the problems he was experiencing with Bulma. Yamcha hadn’t wanted to burden him with the information. Sometimes, he also believed that Puar just wouldn’t understand because Puar was only capable of fostering platonic relationships with other people. 

Yamcha grabbed a towel from off the dresser and lowered his body into the bath. As he turned on the faucet, he was hit by a cold stream of water that had the effect of waking him up completely. With another movement, he reached for the shower gel and scrubbed himself with it. Although he was happy that he’d get to be by his girlfriend’s side again and that he’d get to take her up in his arms, he somehow still had a bad feeling that wouldn’t go away. It felt like the sword of Damocles was dangling over his head and that it was just waiting for the right moment to strike. 

~*~

He would have preferred to have bought her flowers or something else that would have expressed his love. But that might have been going overboard. Furthermore, he didn’t want to appear too happy that she had chosen him. He had decided to dress a little nicer than usual for this occasion, not in his dogi that smelled like sweat and hard work nor in his tracksuit that symbolized his laziness. No, a nice suit with a smart shirt would be more appropriate. However, on second thought, he left his suit hanging in the closet. That might be considered a tad too excessive as well. He had also decided against wearing a tie. So he looked elegant but not too dressy, or as elegant as he could anyways considering all of his facial scars. Before he stored his house back into its capsule, he looked in the mirror one last time. Yes, today he actually looked really good. 

Yamcha stowed the capsule away in the pocket of his pants and leisurely flew with Puar to Capsule Corporation. About 10 minutes later, they reached the massive estate with the yellow buildings. The shapeshifter said goodbye to him and went to pay Bulma’s mom a visit. At this time of the day, she was probably in one of the greenhouses tending to her plants. The blue-haired woman was surely in her lab or assisting her father with one of his projects. Just as the black-haired man was about to go in the house, he stopped in the middle of the walkway. His gaze drifted to the gravity ship which stood at the foot of the lawn. An uneasy feeling crept over him as he closely inspected the large structure. Of course, he trusted his girlfriend. When she told him that she had kicked him out, that was the end of it, the Saiyan had to be gone by now. Nevertheless, there was still this feeling, this panic-driven fear, that wouldn’t abate. He unconsciously continued onwards, not towards the entrance of the house but towards the object of his eyes’s fixation. His heart beat relentlessly against his chest and his breath also quickened. Why did he have the bad feeling that that damned Saiyan was still inside there wreaking havoc? Why?

He had to know the truth. He had to find out whether the mad to the depths of his soul Saiyan was still training in there. He increased his speed until he was finally standing in front of the gravity capsule. There was a small window before him and he only had to look inside for the truth to be revealed. Yet he could not bring himself to do it. Fear had taken over his senses. Yamcha shook his head and muttered to himself. He had come too far to turn back now. Without any further hesitations, he looked through the window of the ship and was shocked at what he saw. He was not only shocked but also...

...relieved.

The former desert bandit released the breath that he’d been holding. Of course, Vegeta wasn’t there. She had told him that she’d sent him away. Why hadn’t he believed her?

“So tell me, what do you think you’re doing over there?” The familiar voice startled him half to death and he saw his girlfriend come up beside him. 

“Nothing...nothing at all,” he stammered while trying to compose himself. Bulma was standing before him, clad in a black skirt and a lab coat while her boots flashed the Capsule Logo. Bulma had her arms crossed as she regarded him suspiciously. 

“That didn’t look like nothing to me,” she hissed as she made a move to leave. Yamcha instinctively grabbed her arm, bidding her to stay. 

“Wait. I’m sorry. I only wanted to see…” he trailed off as he felt the angry look she was directing at him. 

“You only wanted to see if he were really gone? Isn’t that right?” 

Yamcha felt really bad. He had really messed up now. He had imagined the reunion with his beloved girlfriend going a lot differently than this. 

The inventor turned towards him, and he noticed that her right hand was quickly advancing upon him. He closed his eyes automatically, he had already seen the slap coming. But there was no smacking sound and no hand that struck against his cheek. He carefully opened his eyes when all he felt were her fingertips gently gliding across his face. “I forgive you, you jealous, jealous man.”

“What?” He couldn’t have heard her correctly. Was she teasing him with her knowing words? It was normally her style to flip out when it came to these things...but what was she doing instead? The world no longer made any sense to the black-haired man. It didn’t escape Bulma’s notice that Yamcha was so puzzled by her actions. She moved closer to him and softly kissed him on the lips. 

“You’d better come in,” she whispered to him and he followed her into the house. 

~*~

Bulma indicated to her boyfriend that he should go sit on the couch. Yamcha did this without thinking, as he was still looking at her in amazement. She could also still read the confusion in his eyes. “Would you like some tea? I’ll make us a cup.” The fighter nodded and she quickly disappeared into the kitchen. She filled the kettle with water, put it back onto its mount and switched it to its warm-up mode. In addition, she looked for a packet of green tea from off the shelf. Lately, she had been drinking a lot of this strong tea. In some instances, she preferred it to coffee since it allowed her to work better. Using a large teaspoon, she removed the leaves from out of the tea bag and placed them into two tea infusers which she then deposited into their cups. After she had prepared everything, she leaned against the kitchen counter and thought about how she was going to proceed. 

Of course, she hadn’t kicked Vegeta out. She just didn’t have the heart to do it. At least Yamcha seemed to believe that she had put distance between her and the Saiyan, when she was actually keeping him close to her chest. Having been so confused by their conversation yesterday night, she had been forced to postpone the entire operation to this morning. However, there was this awkwardness that always developed whenever she tried to approach him and she somehow could also never find the right moment to tell him that he had to leave. It was quite embarrassing that her extraterrestrial guest was so entrenched in her love life. Vegeta already had enough arrogance and pride as it was, she didn’t need to add this on top of that. If he knew that Yamcha was forcing her to send him away, he would have definitely been amused...but she had prevented that, at least for today…

The sound of the kettle whistling brought her back to reality. She picked the kettle up and poured the boiling water into their tea cups. She then placed a cup in each hand and returned to the living room, where her boyfriend was still sitting on the couch, waiting for her. Her nerves threatened to overtake her as she put everything down on the small coffee table. She finally brought herself to sit beside her boyfriend on the couch. Even though she was feeling incredibly agitated on the inside, her confident demeanour on the outside was masking all of that. Or at least that’s what she hoped. 

“And how...did you…?” he asked her and Bulma immediately knew what he was trying to say. She didn’t want to lie to him, not at all. So what should she do now? She nervously crossed her arms and looked to the side. She briefly considered what to say to her boyfriend, as he continued to talk. “I understand. Let’s talk about something else. That’s not important anymore.”

~*~

Bulma had impulsively decided to take the entire day off to clear everything up with Yamcha and to spend some quality time with him too. He had shared that he would be leaving the city for the next few days so that he could prepare for the fight against the androids. Naturally, he was concerned about leaving her alone. He had actually wanted to stay and train at Capsule Corporation but he didn’t think he would make any advances there. The gravity ship was not a suitable option for his training and additionally, he wanted to train with Earth’s other fighters, who were on the same level as him. 

The rest of the day passed by without any further complications. They spent most of their time talking to one another, walking around the grounds and just...yes, just enjoying each other’s company. During the afternoon, her boyfriend had the great idea of going out for dinner, which would make a nice end to the day.  Bulma found it almost strange that they had not said a single word about Vegeta for the entire day. In a way, she was glad that Yamcha had finally come to his senses and finally had some control over his jealousy. Actually, it made sense that he was being so calm and level-headed, since he was under the impression that Vegeta wouldn’t be living there anymore. Perhaps she’d just keep it a secret, Yamcha was going to start his training soon anyways. 

The restaurant he had taken her to was downtown and was rather upscale. She had dressed accordingly for this special occasion and was glad that she had the chance to wear one of her evening dresses again. She had chosen to wear a long red dress that showed off her generous cleavage. Most of the time, she just wore clothes that her family’s company made so it felt good to finally wear something from another brand. 

Yamcha had reserved a cozy spot for two. The lighting was dimmed and the candles in the middle of the table created a romantic atmosphere. Everything was perfect. He was just perfect. He was well-dressed and not jealous. The tension between them had relaxed and the other good thing about that was that it felt natural. She didn’t feel any of the effort or stress that had been there before. No, he was just happy to be there with her. 

And yet, she couldn’t bring herself to feel the same way. Bulma didn’t know why that was. There she was, sitting down with him while wearing an expensive dress that normally would have just been collecting dust in her closet. “So do you like it here?” he asked her as he moved his hand on top hers. Her boyfriend lovingly caressed her fingers and goosebumps spread across her skin. 

“It’s...it’s beautiful here,” she breathed. She looked down at his hand that was still gently stroking her fingers and playing around with her knuckles. 

What was he doing now? Vegeta had last seen her this morning, right before she had sent him away under false pretenses. She had asked him for a favour, but she wasn’t sure if he would really do it. She had tried to use all of her charm on him too. Despite all that, she was still annoyed at herself for not being honest with him and not telling him what was really going on. This whole charade actually required more effort to maintain than just revealing her hand to him. But she couldn’t show her cards. Something deep inside her wanted him to stay with her. She did not have any romantic ulterior motives. She didn’t want to be near him or to force a child on him. No, for God’s sake - no!

Every time she saw him, she perceived how lonely he was. Although he would never admit to it, or even allow himself to have a moment’s peace, she could still see this strange look of unrest in his eyes. And she was hit with the same feeling she had experienced when she had offered that he come live with her. He had stood there all alone, leaning against the tree, completely separated from everyone else. He had nobody and her instinct had only been to help him. All she could do was offer him refuge, a place to stay, at least temporarily. But this _temporary arrangement_ had dragged on for over a year. Bulma couldn’t believe how quickly time passed by and that she still knew so little about him. 

“Hello...Earth to Bulma?” she suddenly heard as she was ripped away from her thoughts. The blue-haired woman raised her head and looked into the concerned eyes of her boyfriend. “What were you thinking about?” For a moment, she had almost forgotten where she was. She was here with him, with her boyfriend who she loved. Now was not the time to be thinking about Vegeta, not when Yamcha deserved her undivided attention. 

“I’m sorry...I’m really sorry. I was just thinking about work again,” she lied and reached for her boyfriend’s hand. She squeezed his hand gently and looked at him in adoration. 

“You are such a workaholic,” he smirked while pressing her hand. Bulma was relieved that he had bought this other white lie. In a way, she hated herself for not being able to even tell him the truth about minor details. It had to be done though so that he didn’t get hurt. Now that everything was going so well, she wasn’t going to ruin the moment. 

“We should order,” she finally said while unlocking her hand from his. “I’m dying of hunger.” The blue-haired woman reached for the menu that had been lying unopened on the table for all that time. She opened it up and concentrated on what she wanted to order, as Yamcha’s stare bored into her. “What is it?” 

There was a small smile on Yamcha’s face. He also reached for the menu without taking his eyes off of her. “Nothing. You just look extremely beautiful today, breathtaking in fact.” 

~*~

The meal did not end as smoothly as it had started. There were many times when she had to force herself to focus on what her boyfriend was telling her. It wasn’t like she didn’t care about what he had to say. He was just only talking about his future training and that was not really a topic of discussion that she could participate in. But that wasn’t the only thing that was distracting her. Every now and again, a thought about Vegeta would flit through her mind. She wondered what he was doing now and when she would see him again. It was funny when she realized that she almost missed his cynical nature. 

Yamcha had told her that he intended to travel to the mountains at the end of the week. However, he had changed his mind. Not wanting to waste any more time, he had announced that he was going to leave early the next morning. On the one hand, she was glad that it was happening so soon. It would be better to part on good terms without her having to worry about the state of their relationship. But she was also going to miss him too. Things wouldn’t be the same, especially when she didn’t have his warm body beside hers in bed at night. Training was a necessary evil though and would benefit not only him but all of them. At least, they still had the rest of the night to spend together and Bulma would make sure that it was a night to remember. 

After dinner, they had gone for a walk. It was summer so the nights were still warm. During their night-time promenade, they had walked hand-in-hand together. She loved it when he took her by the hand and openly displayed his affection for her. In the past, he wouldn’t have dared to do such a thing. At the time, he had still been quite young and inexperienced. With a smile, she remembered how they had embarked on a number of things for the first time together, such as the first time they had held hands and more...

They finally arrived back at her house. The lights in her house had long since been turned off. A glance at the clock told her that it was already after midnight. There was still no sign of Vegeta though, which almost filled her with regret. It was her fault that he wasn’t here... 

“Bulma…” Yamcha released her hand from his and turned until he was standing directly in front of her. “It’s been a lovely evening, or rather it’s been a lovely day.” His right hand gently stroked her cheek and stopped when it reached her lower lip. “Thank you, you...well, you know what I mean.” 

Of course, she knew what he meant. Her guilty conscience became heavier with each wonderful second that passed by. She didn’t want to ruin their evening, but it was unbearable that he still didn’t know what was really going on. “I…” she began, but the words remained trapped in her throat. It was so incredibly difficult. The situation between them was so romantic, and his eyes that were beaming with happiness at her, made the sentence that she wanted to utter even harder to say. “I have to tell you something…” but she could not continue any further. Yamcha’s other hand lifted her up while he bent down towards her. His kiss prevented any explanations from being said and finally silenced her. Perhaps it would be better if she said nothing, she thought as she placed her hands upon his upper arms. 

Suddenly, the blue-haired woman felt a strong gust of wind whip up beside her and she opened her eyes slightly so that she could see what was happening. But somehow, she had already guessed what the source of the wind was before she had even opened her eyes. Yamcha had already noticed it too, since he could detect ki. Her boyfriend separated himself from their kiss and looked at the figure beside them. He was astonished when he saw that the person in front of him was no other than the Saiyan no Ouji himself. 

“Can I talk to you?” the Saiyan growled at Bulma as he stood in front of the couple with his arms crossed. “Or am I interrupting something?”

 

 

 

_Some really old fanart of me to that chapter:_

  
  



	7. Self-Loathing

   

Bulma swallowed hard when she finally realized who was standing in front of them. There he was - the Saiyan no Ouji himself. He folded his muscular arms in irritation and looked imperiously at her. Based on the look he was directing at her, he was not in a good mood and she was immediately hit with the feeling of extreme guilt. After all, it was her fault that he had had to stay away for so long. Her panic-stricken eyes drifted carefully from Vegeta to her boyfriend, who still had his hands placed firmly across her shoulders. She couldn’t decipher Yamcha’s expression. Was he shocked or just incredibly angry? His mouth was gaping open and besides surprise, she could not interpret any of the other emotions raging behind his eyes. And all of a sudden, she was at a loss for what she should do or say. 

“Come on woman,” the Saiyan growled. “I don’t have all day. We can discuss the whole thing in front of your little friend here.” He continued to stare angrily at her while he waited for her to reply back. But before she could respond, the former desert bandit interrupted. 

“Why are you even here? Shouldn’t you be long gone by now?”

A small shiver went down the blue-haired woman’s spine. Why hadn’t Yamcha given her the chance to tell him the truth? Then he wouldn’t be asking these questions that Vegeta couldn’t properly answer. The alien knew nothing about her failed scheme. 

“Why wouldn’t I be here?” 

Her gaze wandered once more to the surly Saiyan, who had uncrossed his arms and whose hands now rested on his hips. Bulma could see the gears in the alien’s head start to turn as he slowly put two and two together. Suddenly, a smirk unfurled across his face as it dawned on him what was going on. “I get it now.” 

Yamcha’s hands slid off her shoulders and his head turned back and forth between her and the Saiyan. “Can someone please tell me what’s going on here?” He nervously balled his right hand into a fist as he tried to control his temper. He could finally piece together the meaning behind what had been said. Things right now were much worse than he could have imagined. 

The inventor bit down on her lip and tried to gather up all of her courage. Yes, she had really made a mess out of things. Now it was her job to make everything right again. “It’s not what you think…,” she began, but she was instantly cut off by her boyfriend. 

“Well, you know what this looks like. What the hell is going on? Why did you tell me that you threw his ass to the curb when he’s still here acting like he owns the place? Please tell me what you’d like me to think about this.”

“Goddammit, I wanted to tell you earlier, but you interrupted me with that kiss. I just couldn’t do it! And another thing, I think you’re just blaming him for all of our problems. Our problems aren’t just going to magically disappear once His Royal Highness is no longer strutting around the house.”

She had never seriously considered this line of reasoning before, but once the words left her mouth, she had to admit that they were correct. Her boyfriend was just using Vegeta as a scapegoat. Vegeta was just someone to take the fall, when he had actually done nothing wrong. Not by a long shot. He had never made any advances or done anything of a similar nature. It was quite the opposite. He kept his distance from her and did his own thing. He had been the perennial lonely warrior that spurned all contact. He would only ever ask for help if it pertained to his training. But if she were being precise, he never directly asked for anything either, preferring to bark orders at her instead. Yamcha and her had always had their fair share of problems. Before they were informed of the world-shattering news from the future, their relationship had been like a rollercoaster that alternated between periods of highs and lows. Some of their problems had simply been down to age, where they had once been too young and too immature to be faithful to one another. There was also the issue of dissimilar interests, but the list of grievances went on. Whatever trials they endured though, they always managed to bounce back from them stronger than ever. And this year, things had been better than they had been in a long time. However, there were still a lot of unspoken issues between them that festered just beneath the surface. Bulma didn’t want to see Vegeta blamed for all of their conflicts. That must have partly been the reason why she hadn’t thrown him out. Her boyfriend was so short-sighted if he truly believed that Vegeta was their biggest problem.

“Except that he still is one of our problems that hasn’t gone away. I thought we had agreed on that. And I also thought that you were going to be serious about our relationship, about us now, considering that all day we’ve been making plans for our future...”

He had come to that conclusion on his own. She had never agreed that Vegeta was a problem. Her boyfriend had made all these wild claims without ever asking for her opinion. The only thing they had agreed upon was the future. She had decided to make more of an effort, to commit more energy to their long-standing relationship, that was what they had clearly agreed upon. 

“I am being serious about our relationship! But I never agreed with you about Vegeta! For fuck’s sake, you’re twisting the truth...”

“Why didn’t you ever say anything about this before? You could have said something instead of putting on quite the show with Vegeta...”

“I didn’t want to hurt you...”

“Well, you didn’t succeed,” he replied in a sad tone as he ran his right hand across his face. 

He looked extremely tense and he was breathing nervously. Bulma couldn’t blame him for his reaction though. What could she say? She really hadn’t intended on hurting him, he was far too special to her. Yet she still didn’t regret not kicking Vegeta out. All the white lies she had said in an attempt to make everything right, to make sure that Yamcha didn’t get hurt and that the Saiyan didn’t have his new home taken away from him, had only made things worse. She should have just told the truth in the first place. Not only had she lied to the former desert bandit but she had lied to her guest too. What was the alien fighter making of all this? The Saiyan no Ouji had been listening to this emotional outburst as well and...she didn’t want to imagine what he thought of her now. She stared at her dejected boyfriend but did not dare turn her head in the direction of the other man. 

“Is that all? Are you done with your stupid conversation?” he growled, bringing the focus back to himself. The blue-haired woman felt a stab in her heart. Somehow she suspected that this was the final nail in the coffin. She watched her boyfriend’s reaction, but it wasn’t what she had been anticipating. 

“She’s all yours,” he sighed in defeat and went to leave. He slowly stepped towards Capsule Corporation, leaving behind his stunned girlfriend. It appeared as though he were heading to her house, despite just having argued with her, and that he was going to wait for her there. He also didn’t seem to mind that she was going to have a private chat with his rival. Why had he given up so quickly and left her all alone?

“Wait,” she shouted. She took a few steps in his direction, until she was blocked from going any further by the Saiyan. 

“Stop. Stay right where you are.” 

The words sounded harsh and brought her to an abrupt halt. She swallowed the dry lump caught in her throat and exhaled slowly. 

“Turn around.”

She gradually turned around and nervously looked into the dark opal eyes of the Saiyan, which were glaring right at her. An uncomfortable silence arose between them. Bulma could hear the muffled sound of her heart beating against her chest. Her heart rate increased as her adversary came closer and closer until he was right in front of her. She looked deep into his dark eyes, that she could see even better now since he had bridged the gap between them. The Saiyan no Ouji was not nearly as tall as her boyfriend, if he had been, their eyes would not have delved into each other’s on almost the same level. The blue-haired woman was only slightly taller, and that was mainly due to the high heels that she had worn tonight. 

Nevertheless, just having him so close to her was only making her more nervous. And only now did the inventor remember that she was still wearing the red evening dress with the low-cut neckline. She nervously crossed her arms over her chest, trying to cover up her bare skin. 

But the fighter didn’t even glance once at the rest of her body. Instead, he was still staring deep into her blue eyes, and he didn’t appear happy at what he discovered there. “Can you explain the reason why you sent me thousands of kilometres away to train? You told me it was because the gravity chamber was broken, but there was never anything wrong with it in the first place. Isn’t that correct?”

An uneasy silence came over her. She shook her head slightly, confirming that the gravity ship had always been fully operational. 

“That’s what I thought. There was no real purpose to you sending me to the far corners of the Earth.”

“Nobody forced you to fly thousands of kilometres away...,” she responded in amusement. Really - why had he bothered to travel all that distance? Perhaps she had been exaggerating when she had mentioned that there was a certain place on Earth that would be perfect for his training because it was the same spot where Goku had awakened his incredible powers...

“Listen,” he spat. “This is not a game.” 

Bulma unfurled her arms and gave an exasperated sigh. “Okay, okay. I’m sorry. I won’t lie about the gravity ship again. It’s just that...that...” 

Suddenly, she felt pain rise up her left arm. The Saiyan no Ouji had, contrary to expectations, grabbed her and was now clutching her roughly with his hand. It must have been barely noticeable to him, but to her, it felt left her entire upper arm was being crushed. A burning pain radiated throughout her body, which made her cry out in agony. 

“I don’t care to be involved in any of the games that you’re playing with your little friend,” he scolded, while tightening the pressure around her arm. 

Bulma gradually lost all feeling in the left side of her body. He was constricting her blood flow, and it was becoming increasingly difficult to breath. “Stop...you’re hurting me,” she gasped. He released the pressure on her, and she immediately toppled to the ground, because it had been his immense strength that had been keeping her upright. She looked into his eyes and realized that he was being completely serious. Dead serious. He approached her slowly, and that small movement was enough to make her shudder. 

“Don’t be afraid, little woman,” he whispered in her left ear.

His cold breath crawling up her skin instantly reminded her of that day in the gravity ship when he had claimed to have decided. She hadn’t been scared then, but she was overcome with fear now. 

“I’m not going to harm you. But if you ever use me as a pawn in your relationship games again, I guarantee that something bad will happen to you. Do you understand?”

Her breath faltered and she could do nothing more than simply nod while her mouth hung open. 

“Good,” he said in an almost satisfied tone and then he finally removed his arms from her. 

In spite of the shock, she could still think clearly and she reflexively took hold of her aching arm. The blue-haired woman had to respect the depth of his power. If he had gripped her just a little bit harder, then maybe...then maybe she would have been seriously injured.

She didn’t want to think any further about what might have happened. All she knew was that her arm really hurt and that that one serious look of his revealed that he could have gravely harmed her. The indents from his fingers were still visible on her arm, and Bulma was sure that they would leave bruises behind. 

“So that’s all settled,” he stated contentedly before heading back to the house. 

Bulma was still clutching her arm as she heard his footsteps drift away. She remained rooted to the spot and tried to calm down. She couldn’t go back to the house until she had relaxed. The confrontation with Vegeta went beyond anything she could have expected, especially his cold warning that froze the blood in her veins. 

The Saiyan suddenly stopped and turned his head towards her. “By the way, nice dress,” he added, before continuing further down the path.

~*~

Several minutes passed, but Bulma still hadn’t moved an inch. Had he just told her that he liked her dress? He had been playing with her life like it was nothing at all and then he made that final remark...that only increased her trepidation. She was extremely confused. She couldn’t read the Saiyan’s cards at all, not even when he revealed them to her. 

The feeling slowly returned to her arm and she tried to move it. Her arm was working normally, but it was still painful. Bulma was sure that he had had no intention of actually injuring her and that he had only wanted to threaten her. She didn’t hold a grudge towards him for handling her so roughly. This had all been her fault, so she certainly deserved the physical punishment she had received. Perhaps this was the wake-up call she needed to finally be honest with herself, with Vegeta, and most of all, with Yamcha.

“Yamcha,” she sighed. He was still waiting for her in the house and he was definitely going to give her the third degree. She laboured to breath and discovered that she was ready for it. Even though she wanted to be more honest with him - her boyfriend could never know what had just happened here. If he found out about Vegeta’s brutal treatment of her, he would go berserk. And then the former desert bandit would do things that he would later regret. He might even feel compelled to attack the Saiyan, and they all knew how that fight would end...

She took one last deep breath and finally walked back to the house. 

~*~

As she closed the door behind her, she noticed that there were no lights on in the house. Vegeta had probably already retired to his room and Yamcha...yes, where was he?

With the minimum of noise, Bulma removed her shoes and placed them in the nearest corner. She had decided to first go to her room to change her clothes. This night had gone on for far too long, and she felt so tired. Using light steps, she went up the stairs until she reached the hallway that led to her bedroom. And just as quietly as she had entered the house, she opened the door to her room. She immediately noticed that the light was on, and had been turned on by none other than Yamcha. Once she had closed the door, she looked more closely at her boyfriend, who was still wearing the fancy clothes that he had worn to dinner and who was now sitting on her bed. His arms were folded across his knees and his hands were covering his face in despair. Bulma’s heart throbbed once more as she saw her boyfriend sitting there, looking so desolate. God, she felt such massive self-loathing and guilt right now. Why hadn’t she just come clean to him earlier? 

“Yamcha, I...,” she began, and moved a couple steps towards him. 

“Tell me...tell me something,” his voice sounded in desperation, as he scrunched his hands in the bedsheets. 

Bulma could finally look into his sad face, that reflected all the terrible things she had done to him. Her guilty conscience was worsening with every second. 

“What do you think about that boy?”

The blue-haired woman listened in surprise. “Which boy do you mean? The one from the future?” Why was he starting things off with this topic? What did this have to do with Vegeta?

“I’d just like to know if it makes you sad that you and him...you will never get to meet each other because you’ve chosen me. Are you sorry that he’ll never get to exist in this time?”

Bulma instinctively bit down on her lower lip and mulled over the question. Of course, she felt bad that she’d never get to know the nice young man. She had spent countless sleepless nights thinking about it and had even created a timeline that indicated when he should be born. Not only was she interested in the timing of certain events, she also wanted to know if time manipulation were possible so that she could alter the course of the future. But to what extent she wanted to change things, she didn’t even know herself. 

“I don’t know...,” she replied, baring herself to him. It was the honest truth. The bottom line was that she wasn’t going to lie to him. Not anymore. She went towards Yamcha and kneeled down before him. She clasped his hands and looked deep into his eyes. “There is one thing I know without question. I know that I don’t want to lose you. You have to believe me when I say that”. 

“I know that. I also know that I overreacted, now that I’ve had the time to think it over. I actually never should have asked you to do that, to kick him out. I have to get a clear head again and not just push all of our problems onto him...” His hands clasped hers back, yet there was this lingering disappointment in his eyes. There was an unfathomable emptiness in them like he didn’t know what to think or what to do. 

“So what happens now?” she asked.

“Tomorrow I’m going away to train, just like we discussed.” 

“For how long?”

“I don’t know.” 

The duration of his intended absence was rather uncertain. What did that imply?

“I don’t quite understand,” she breathed, while suppressing a small sob. The blood in her veins seemed to pulse more rapidly. “What does that mean for us?”

Yamcha let go of her hands and finally got up. He moved towards the door and with his back to her, he explained what he could of his plan. “I don’t know what it means. I just know that I have to get away from here for awhile. It actually pains me to leave you here all alone with him. But I think it needs to happen, otherwise I’ll never get past these crazy ideas that I have for you and him.”

“There’s no need for you to have crazy ideas though,” she replied, and lifted herself off from the floor. She stared desperately at the fighter’s back and recognized the disappointed stance he had taken. He must be really serious about this if he could ignore how extraordinarily difficult it would be for him to do. She couldn’t believe that he was really going to do this. He had previously done all he could to ensure that her and Vegeta were never left alone together. 

“I know. In theory, I know that you’re right. But I can’t escape my feelings. I just have to get away from here so that I can clear my mind and sensibly think everything over,” he explained.

“Does that mean...what’s going on with us...now?”

“I’m not breaking up with you. I’m really not! That’s the last thing I want to do. But I have to go now, otherwise I’ll say things that I’ll regret and do things that I’d hate to do...” 

Things that he could hate doing? What could that possibly be? He would never act violently towards her. She certainly didn’t appreciate how vague he was being.

“But…,” she whimpered as her eyes slowly but surely filled with tears. A burning ache spread throughout her body, which made her tremble slightly. Why was he doing this to her now?

“I’ll see you later. I’ll be back, I promise.” Those were his last words to her. After saying his farewell, he opened the door and disappeared behind it without even turning back to look at her once. It was as if he couldn’t stand to look into her eyes, to see the tears there begin to run down her cheeks, those unstoppable tears of hers that he couldn’t bear to witness. Perhaps he wouldn’t have had the strength to leave if he had seen her in that sad state.

Bulma was no longer able to hold back her tears. She fell to the floor with her back hitting the edge of her bed. She pulled her feet inwards and curled herself around them. The water from her eyes streamed forth and dripped down onto her knees. 

It was rare for her to have any regrets or hatred towards herself. But now was such a time, a moment where she could only curse herself. She was angry that she had lied and hurt others. It was more than enough that she had incited the Saiyan’s rage and betrayed his trust. But that was nothing compared to how she had wounded Yamcha, her long-time boyfriend whose trust and devotion she had abused, now more than ever before. 

But her grief did not drive her to only hate herself and her behaviour. No, she hated the future even more. It seemed like the future was outright mocking her. 

Yes, what she hated most right now was the knowledge she had of the future. Everything would have been so easy and would have proceeded as it were meant to, if no one knew anything. No one would have had any idea about the real identity of the Saiyan from the future. No one would have known that she and Vegeta would...

Was there no way to reverse this so that everyone involved would know absolutely nothing about the future?


	8. Happiness

   

Vegeta was still wondering what had possessed his benefactress to lie to him. However, her lies were not the main cause of his ire, he was more annoyed at himself for having blindly believed her drivel. This morning, a strange feeling had crept up on him as soon as she had popped up in front of him, serving up an unlikely story. Every stammered word that had come out of her mouth had sounded like utter bullshit. Yes, it was true that he could always sense if someone were lying to him or telling the truth. So why hadn’t his radar alarmed at her lies? Although he was hard-pressed to admit it - in a small way, he had trusted this weak human woman. She had after all accepted him without any reservations despite being fully aware of what he had done to her friends in the past. Sometimes he wondered what had come over the onna on that day when she had nonchalantly offered a killer like him, a place to stay.

But she had gone miles beyond that. Vegeta had been expecting basic accommodation and nothing more. Yet he had received a lot more than he could have ever hoped to expect. He had wanted for nothing over the past year. She had given him full-reign of the house, allowing him to help himself to whatever was in the kitchen whenever he wanted. At some point, he had accepted the situation and no longer questioned her motives. Perhaps he had believed everything she had said because she had never given him a reason to think that she would ever lie to him. Yes, one could definitely say that he had built some trust in her, or at the very least, that her presence no longer felt alien to him. 

“Trust,” he grumbled unnerved, as he removed his training suit. He had the water in the shower running as he put his soiled clothes in the laundry hamper, just like Bulma had shown him on his first day at her house. Thoughts of the blue-haired woman invaded his head again. She was indeed quite friendly, it was almost motherly how attentive she was to others, but there was often a harsh undertone in the way she worded her requests. It was almost as if she were commanding instead of asking. And the Saiyan hated following orders under any circumstances, whether it was a trivial matter or not. 

The Saiyan no Ouji had not trusted anyone for a long time. The last person who had enjoyed his trust had been his mentor Nappa, who he had killed in cold blood. In retrospect, he sometimes regretted his rash actions. He wasn’t necessarily racked with a guilt, but every once in awhile he missed having someone around of the same race with whom he could converse about various topics that he could not discuss with anyone else. However, the feelings of loneliness didn’t last for long and the memories of his mentor faded away as quickly as they had come. Nappa had certainly trusted him, and that had led to his downfall. Vegeta had to smirk at the thought that his judgment had always been correct, that it was worthless to trust anyone. There would always be someone who would abuse your trust or who would put no value on it, just like he had done back then. Everybody lied in some form or another, so he shouldn’t have been so stupid as to not anticipate Bulma deceiving him in such a cheap manner. In a funny way, he even understood her reasons, despite only having a vague sense of what they were and suspecting them instead. Her actions were definitely inspired by the weak Earthling, Vegeta was quite certain of that. Admittedly, he didn’t know much about him or their relationship, he had zero to little interest in any of that. 

Vegeta stripped the last stitch of clothing from his body, and finally entered the shower, turning the tap towards cold. A cold stream of water rained down on him that stimulated his circulation. Shortly afterwards, he switched the water to hot and the prince allowed his mind to wander. 

How could someone devote so much time and energy to something that would just screw you over in the end? He was astonished that the Earth woman had expended so much effort in maintaining that farce. The black-haired man wondered what was the reason for that. Was Kakarot’s additional tidbit of information to blame or would she have still acted the same regardless of what might possibly happen? 

“That’s unimportant,” the Saiyan growled, unconsciously shaking his head to quickly dispel all thoughts of this little love triangle. But he was not successful. He was still stewing over his anger with her. Now with a more sober and rational perspective, he could identify why he had bought her lies and why none of his alarms had gone off. 

It was all down to his mission to become a Super Saiyan. A small glimmer of hope had sparked within him when she had told him about this special training place, even though he knew that there was only the slimmest chance of something like that working. Although the Saiyan no Ouji had not yet reached his limits, he still welcomed any insight that would further his training. In hindsight, he didn’t hold a grudge towards her at all, even if she had sent him on a wild goose chase. For a brief second, he felt almost sorry for having treated her so roughly. Vegeta raised his right hand and looked at his open palm. He could still feel her skin on his and her nervous sweat blending in with his. Yes, he had definitely overreacted now that he thought about it again. Nevertheless, he had controlled his strength and she had suffered no severe injuries. The worst case scenario was that she would sport some bruises for a few days. He unknowingly balled his hand into a fist and bit his lower lip. 

“You are such a wuss,” he snapped to himself, while his fist twitched from strain. Just the thought of being glad that he hadn’t harmed her was like poison running through his veins. The act of hurting another person had never bothered him before so why was he suddenly making an exception for her? 

~*~

The Saiyan no Ouji was feeling refreshed as he exited the shower and dried himself off with the nearest towel from off the towel rack. Today had almost been a complete waste of time. If he could have spent many hours in the gravity chamber like he had wanted, he would have advanced much further in his training. 

After he had finished drying himself off, he dressed in sweatpants and a comfy T-shirt. Vegeta wasn’t aware of the time, but it seemed to be quite late. As he left the bathroom and walked into the hallway, he noticed that a light was still burning bright. Apparently, the two Earthlings were still awake and holed up in their room. At the moment, he didn’t have much of an appetite, but he did want to quickly retrieve a drink from the refrigerator before disappearing back into his room. At a later hour when no one in the house was awake, he would come downstairs for a midnight snack. Vegeta did not want to run the risk of crossing paths with the blue-haired woman again like on the previous night. He moved surreptitiously into the kitchen where he opened the fridge and took out a can of cola. As quickly as he had come, he left the kitchen and went back up the stairs to his bedroom. Just as he reached the last few steps though, he heard voices coming from the hallway. He paused instinctively and listened to what was being said. 

“…That’s the last thing I want to do. But I have to go now, otherwise I’ll say things that I’ll regret and do things that I’d hate to do...” 

Vegeta could hardly believe his ears. What was the weakling talking about? Were the two of them breaking up right now? The Saiyan assumed that it had to be a bad joke since that was precisely how it was coming across. Yamcha said a few words of farewell and closed the door behind him. The fighter was coming towards Vegeta. The Saiyan really didn’t want to cross paths with this Earthling either! With lightning-speed, he hid himself behind a corner at the bottom of the stairs, where he waited until the former desert bandit had passed him by. 

“Interesting,” he whispered to himself, and opened the can of cola, taking a sip of it. It was true that he wasn’t interested in any of their emotional chaos, but he couldn’t deny feeling a budding curiosity. Now that he had overheard pieces of their conversation, he was a little annoyed to not be privy to all the details. Why would the two lunatics suddenly decide to separate now? Bulma had lied just as much to the Saiyan no Ouji as she had to her boyfriend. He really wondered why Yamcha had decided that this was the right time to pull the brakes on their relationship when just the day before, he had still been clinging to the inventor’s apron strings. It was so obvious that even Vegeta had noticed it. So it would have never occurred to him that this wimp would ever have the guts to split up with her. 

Perhaps he had completely misinterpreted something in the whole sorry saga. But why do you give a shit about any of this? he asked himself. Although, he had to smile slightly when he realized that he had wasted so much time thinking about this. Vegeta took another swig of his cold drink and finally went back to his room. 

~*~

Bulma did not know how many days had passed since her boyfriend had left to go train. After one week, she had stopped counting the days and after a few weeks had elapsed, she had also given up on marking the number of weeks. Nothing much had changed in the time Yamcha had been away. Yamcha hadn’t even called her once and she had no idea how to reach him, it wasn’t like some random field was going to have an address where she could write him. 

The time alone with Vegeta had also passed by uneventfully. Oddly enough, he had never questioned her about that one night again. It also didn’t seem to interest him that the former desert bandit hadn’t made any recent appearances. In addition, she hadn’t made any effort to speak to him either. He was presently using every free minute to train in the gravity ship. And due to his early morning to late night training schedule, she had barely even seen him. The alien fighter never took a day off from training, it was quite the opposite, his training habits were so voracious in his determination to reach his one goal. When he set his mind to something, nothing could distract him. Every now and again, she would run into him, but except for a few inquiries regarding his training, they had not exchanged any words. But maybe the gravity ship wasn’t the sole cause of his increased isolation. Maybe it was related more to how she had misled him. Could it be that the prince was acting spiteful and wanted to teach her a lesson? 

At that thought, the inventor had to shake her head. It was a shame that she couldn’t decipher his actions. Bulma reached for the nearest crosshead screwdriver so that she could open the cover of one of the small robots that the fighter had destroyed yet again. Most of the time she would just find the smouldering remains of her artificial intelligence in the gardens of Capsule Corp, and she knew that it was a direct request to fix them without Vegeta having to ask. At least he didn’t order her about each and every day, although she had almost been expecting it. Perhaps he was just too exhausted after training to divert any additional energy on her. But who really knew what was going on in the Saiyan’s head.

“Bulma sweetie, I have a letter for you!” 

The door burst open and the inventor was so startled that she dropped her tools. Bulma hadn’t even managed to remove the first screw from the cover since her thoughts had distracted her so much. 

“Mama...don’t scare me like that,” she groaned in a slightly exasperated tone, and looked to the door where her mother was still standing with a small envelope in her hand. Was it so late in the morning that the mail had already arrived? She shouldn’t spend so much time focused on her thoughts...

“Guess who it’s from,” warbled the blonde as she came up to her daughter’s desk. She joyfully waved the envelope in her daughter’s face, which Bulma could see was rather smudged. It was probably from...

“Yamcha?” Bulma asked nervously while looking up expectantly at Mrs. Briefs. Had he finally written to her after all these weeks? Without waiting for confirmation, Bulma yanked the letter from out of her mother’s hand and opened it with trembling fingers. When she had finally overcome her nerves, and was able to take out the slip of paper, spreading it in front of her, she glanced over at her mother in irritation. “Perhaps I would like to read this privately?” she clipped, waiting for her mother to get the hint and to leave the lab. 

“I would have liked to know how he was doing,” the blonde sighed, and exited the room without any further objections. 

Bulma waited a few more minutes until she could no longer hear any steps outside in the corridor and was positive that she was alone. She took an excited breath and picked up the note and began to read the words that Yamcha had written her. Line by line, she completely immersed herself in the letter, and it wasn’t long before she had reached its end. 

She really didn’t know how she should react to this letter. After such a long time, her expectations had been much higher than the four or five short sentences that the former desert bandit had scribbled down to her, which only relayed a report on his training and that he would update her again soon. Oh, and in the PS he had added that he missed her, but that was everything. Was that seriously all he had to say to her? The blue-haired woman had been expecting pages upon pages of loving sentiment that would describe his complete misery at being separated from her for all those weeks, or at least some sort of emotional outpouring. But no, there was nothing like that. She furiously crumpled the piece of paper and threw it into the waste paper basket next to the door. 

“What an idiot…,” she huffed and bit disappointedly at her lower lip. While lost in her thoughts, she glanced at the wadded-up ball of paper that was sitting on top of a pile of rubbish. What the hell was he thinking? she wondered, not being able to come up with a reason for him to have sent her such a pointless letter. Why bother writing anything at all if it would only be a few measly words with no greater meaning behind them? Of course, he was feeling just fine. When had he ever felt sick? Bulma looked down at her work, which lay on the desk in front of her. Her initial rage was slowly turning into grief. She buried her face in her hands and tried to suppress the burgeoning tears. Her boyfriend truly didn’t know that he had struck her with such a low blow. But why was she worrying so much when he didn’t seem to give a shit?

Wet pearls of tears rolled down past her cheeks and moistened her hands, in which her face still lay paralyzed. She slowly released her arms and without knowing why, she turned her body to the right, and opened the nearest drawer. She rummaged around in the drawer while sobbing, until she found a sheet of paper that she had not looked at in a long time. It was her timeline, that she had first started to compile many weeks or months ago. Her timeline had almost faded into obscurity since her thoughts had been completely preoccupied with Yamcha. She hadn’t had any time to ponder over her house guest or any predestined future. Perhaps she was being drawn back onto this path due to her sorrow and rage at her boyfriend. 

She eyed the diagram with interest, noting that it had become almost unrecognizable to her. “Maybe I should just let nature take its course if Yamcha has other priorities,” she griped sarcastically then smirked. That sounded so grotesque that she almost broke out into peals of laughter. Yet her smile stretched wider across her face even though her tears still flowed. 

“What’s so funny?” 

Her morbid musings were suddenly cut short. Bulma was startled because the voice that brought her back to earth belonged to none other than the Saiyan no Ouji himself. She slowly turned her head towards the door and saw Vegeta standing in front of her in his sweaty training clothes. He inspected her face, that was still glistening with tears, with curiosity. 

~*~

Vegeta found it strange to see her with tear-strewn eyes and with a miserable expression spread across her face. What in the world had happened to this woman? She hadn’t answered his question yet, but looked up at him distraught. Should he repeat himself? Was she in a state of shock? “What’s that in your hand?” he asked her instead. She was protectively holding an enormous sheet of paper that resembled blueprints or something similar. The Saiyan took a couple steps towards her as she flinched nervously. 

“This...this is nothing. It’s just work,” she prattled in a frantic and panicky voice.

She removed the paper from out of his range of visibility, and Vegeta once again suspected that she was hiding something from him. But it didn’t matter what she was concealing, that wasn’t the reason why he had come to her lab. He looked to her once again and saw her wiping the last remaining tears from her eyes. Had she been crying? 

Bulma must have felt his gaze upon her, because without him having to ask, she explained, “I just have allergies.” 

“Oh really?” Lying wasn’t her speciality. He scrutinized her again but didn’t question what was really going on. It just simply didn’t interest him. “You humans are always so consumed with your feelings, which you just have to impose on and profess to others. Do I look like I care about your state of health?” he hissed at her. 

Her initially kind face became noticeably annoyed and almost even angry. “You could benefit by learning a bit of tact. Was there really nowhere in the entire cosmos for you to acquire some?” she countered while crossing her arms. 

“Why tact of all things? According to what you told me, everything is fine, so why do I have to work on my delivery or choice of words?” 

In an instant, he saw her forehead crease at his rebuttal. Despite her assertions to the contrary, it appeared that everything was not fine with her at all. Was it just Earthlings, or were all women like this? The Saiyan couldn’t recall ever encountering any female creature who was as strange as her...

“You’re not fooling anybody,” she grinned at him. Her expression relaxed and she loosened up her arms. Furthermore, they were still staring at each other and a heavy silence lingered between them. 

Why had he come here again? This woman was completely derailing his thoughts. Before he could reorganize his mind, she interrupted him again with her emotional psychobabble. 

“Just in case you’re interested, Yamcha wrote to me and I was just so happy to hear from him.” 

What? Why was she sharing this information with him? Had he ever shown interest in any of that nonsense before? Or did this woman just like hearing the sound of her own voice? 

“You don’t look very happy,” he stated and once again became annoyed that he was responding to the words of the blue-haired woman. She somehow always managed to involve him in conversations whose subject matter was something he normally eschewed discussing. Her gaze lowered slightly at his blunt observation. What was happening now? Where was the self-confident woman who never hesitated in giving him a piece of her mind?

“It’s...complicated. Anyways, you wouldn’t understand,” she wanted to put an abrupt end to the conversation, but she couldn’t evade his questioning now, not when she had awakened his interest. 

There was something he wouldn’t understand? She really shouldn’t wind him up with such claims!

“Then explain it to me.” The words automatically left his lips and he now watched her pupils that were staring back into his dark opal eyes. 

“How? You know nothing about feelings,” she snapped and folded her arms across her chest again. 

“Onna, you are completely wrong. Anger and pride, for example, are also feelings, which I have mastered extremely well.” 

“Those feelings that you described, I would just call them character traits or perhaps two deadly sins that were designed especially for you.” 

There she was again, the sharp-tongued woman who wasn’t shy about speaking her mind. A grin spread across his face that was particularly inspired by her astute analysis of him. However, she finally returned to the topic at hand. 

“You wouldn’t know,” she began while resting her face in her hands, “how it feels to be so enthralled with someone that you find yourself always wondering what they’re doing and hoping that everything is well with them. And that’s exactly how I feel with Yamcha...only, it’s just that those aren’t the only things I would like Yamcha to tell me. It’s...,” she suddenly stopped her monologue. It struck her then that she was expressing sentiments that he didn’t give a shit about. “But what am I saying? Just forget it.” 

“I see,” he conceded reluctantly, before adding his own thoughts on the subject. “But what I don’t understand are you humans, with all of your feelings. If feelings only give you pain and suffering, then why don’t you separate yourself from them? Why bother with all the hassle when it could be so simple instead?” Vegeta peered at her in confusion, and he noticed how she was nervously fiddling around with her chair. He had given her some food for thought that she was taking some time to digest, until she finally found the right response. 

“It’s not as easy as you’re making it out to be. Even though something can cause you a lot of misery and heartache...that doesn’t mean it can’t invoke something beautiful as well. Haven’t you ever been in something like a...relationship?”

Had she really just asked him that, or were his ears deceiving him? This woman was so absolutely shameless to demand such intimate details from him. Somehow the fact that no one had ever asked him such a thing before, bothered him more than the question being posed at all. 

“Did you…?” he heard her start to ask him again, but he abruptly cut her off. 

“That’s none of your business.” 

“I’m sorry. It’s not my place to...,” she immediately apologized, but the Saiyan had had enough. 

“I have no time for this nonsense. After all, I have more than enough other things to keep me busy and that require my attention...” The fighter turned around jerkily and wanted to leave the lab. He’d actually forgotten why he’d come to see her in the first place. What was wrong with him?

“Maybe you want to discuss with me what’s been weighing down your mind. If you have someone to listen, you can cope with your problems better and in the end, you’ll feel a lot happier and unburdened,” she spouted from out of her talkative mouth. Could this woman ever just shut her trap?

“Worry about your own problems, onna,” he growled, walking further towards the doorway, until he stopped and looked at her one last time. “How can you speak to me of happiness when you are not happy yourself? You can’t tell me that you experience this feeling in the weakling’s presence, or if you do, you have a strange way of conveying it.” 

Yes, that was true. The woman had rarely looked joyful or relaxed in the company of her boyfriend. So what right did she have to advise him on _how_ to be happy?

The Saiyan no Ouji knew exactly when he had last felt happy, but that had been a long time ago.

An excessively long time ago. 


	9. At Your Mercy

   

“ _How can you speak to me of happiness when you are not happy yourself?”_

Bulma was completely perplexed by her encounter of the third kind with the prince of all Saiyans and his words were still haunting her. Could he possibly be right? Did she really look unhappy, or did it only appear that way when she was with Yamcha in public? It was difficult to perform a self-assessment when she couldn’t see herself from an outsider’s perspective. 

The blue-haired woman had a sudden impulse to go find a mirror so that she could examine her appearance. There was none that she could use in her lab, so she quickly walked towards the bathroom and switched on the light once she was inside. She was finally standing in front of a mirror that could reflect her true emotions. She thought that she looked absolutely dreadful. It was extremely noticeable that she had been crying or that she had at least been shedding a few tears. Was it just a trick of the light or did she really look like this? Bulma tried to fake a smile, but found that she couldn’t muster the strength to do it. The letter from Yamcha had worsened her mood rather than improved it. Its purpose hadn’t been to dampen her spirits like this, but that had nonetheless been its effect, and her present condition couldn’t be easily reversed. 

Her right hand turned on the sink tap and she splashed some of the cool water in her face until she felt a bit more relaxed. Maybe that would help matters. But when she lifted her head to look back at her reflection, she had to reluctantly admit that there wasn’t much improvement. Vegeta really seemed to be right. Why not just end it with Yamcha so that she could save herself from any more suffering? That would make it easier on everyone. However, her heart rioted at that idea. Her heart still raced every time she thought about the former desert bandit. Everything would eventually go back to normal. But when would that be? Their happiness couldn’t depend on whether Vegeta was present or not. But as time went on, it was as if the future were pushing her to break up with him. That looming future was going to deliver more pain than she was already struggling to cope with. Maybe she just had to accept that this was the fate that she was destined for. 

Despite all that, a smile flitted over her lips. She really appreciated that the Saiyan freely expressed what he was thinking. Although he didn’t package things in the kindest of words, she could always be sure of his thoughts. She knew where she stood with him and what his honest opinion was. That was a serious drawback now with her boyfriend. Sometimes she was unsure of how truthful Yamcha’s statements were. Did he say things just because she wanted to hear them or because he actually meant them? Vegeta was not of a similar nature at all. She had to grin at the thought of Vegeta trying to butter her up. She couldn’t possibly imagine him ever doing such a thing. 

“But why am I even interested in his opinion in the first place?” she sighed in frustration while shaking her head and then finally turned off the still running water. She reached for a towel from off the rack and dried off her face. 

Since when did she put any value on anyone else’s opinion? She had not asked her parents for advice in years and as for her friends...well, they had probably already accepted the fact that she’d be the mother of a baby in less than two and a half year’s time. She could already imagine what a phone call with one of her friends would be like. 

“ _Well, that’s just your fate. You shouldn’t try to alter the future,”_ she could imagine Son-kun telling her. 

“ _Don’t waste any time. If you’re already destined to be with Vegeta, why bother postponing the inevitable?”_ Kuririn would reason logically. 

“ _Why are you asking me? I’m just a pig,”_ the funny image of Oolong flashed in her head. 

Various responses and words of wisdom flickered through her thoughts, which resulted in only giving her a headache. Yes, she was definitely not going to ask her friends for advice, it might actually be preferable to listen to the Saiyan that lived in her house. Hell, maybe she would do just that. 

~*~

A few days later, Bulma still didn’t know how she should feel about Yamcha’s letter. Therefore, she had just lowered her expectations and waited for further messages from him. She had not seen Vegeta since their previous conversation in her lab. At their last meeting, he had seemed very confused. It was as if he had wanted something from her, but he had completely lost his train of thought. He would surely come back to her on his own, when the time was right. He had also not trained in the gravity ship for a couple of days. The Saiyan had probably disappeared into the mountains and was wreaking havoc there. As long as he didn’t hurt anyone, she didn’t care what he did during his training sessions. 

The blue-haired woman channeled her energy into her work, but that did not seem to be enough to distract her, it was as if something was missing. After a while, she finally figured out what the missing thing was that would lift her spirits. Without wasting any more time, she decided to put her idea into practice. 

“Bulma, your hair is short and straight again?” her mother noted as she entered the living room with her new hairstyle. Mrs. Briefs was engrossed in one of her magazines, but she immediately noticed the drastic change in her daughter’s appearance. 

“Well, I felt like making a change,” she explained while running her fingers through her ponytail. “I was fed up with the other style for awhile now.” She collapsed onto the couch and breathed out in annoyance. It was already late in the afternoon and she had had the entire day to herself. After a round of shopping, she had made a quick detour to the hairdresser’s. She had had her previous hairstyle for far too long and she would always associate that enormous head of hair with Yamcha, who had liked to trail his fingers through the voluminous curls. Now this memory was gone along with her old hair, and she had felt massive relief until her mother revealed that she had another surprise for her. 

“I’ve been waiting for you,” the blonde trilled, putting the women’s magazine to the side. Her hand wandered next to her seat and it appeared as if she were searching for something. Bulma watched her mother with curiosity and was surprised when her rummaging produced an envelope. Suddenly, she felt like her heart would stop beating. Had Yamcha actually…?

“Give it here,” she exclaimed with a sudden eagerness and ripped the piece of paper from her mother’s hand. Her heart was beating faster with each passing second and she could feel her anticipation leaping up into her throat, as she gripped the somewhat dirty envelope in her hand. There was a moment of silence and Bulma almost trembled when she saw the familiar handwriting that had written out her name and address. 

“Now go on, don’t you want to open it?” she heard her mother’s encouraging voice tell her. But now...something was preventing her from doing it. It was as if...

“Maybe later,” she breathed and then stood up abruptly. She didn’t pay any more attention to her mother as she walked out of the living room. Without a destination in mind, she stared at the envelope that was lying in her hand and took a couple of steps forwards. She was debating with herself whether she should open it or not. 

~*~

Hours later, at 11 o’clock at night, Bulma was sitting alone on one of the many terraces of Capsule Corporation. She had on a thick jacket because the autumn nights were slowly but surely becoming colder. It was incredible that almost half a year had passed since the reveal of her supposed son. Where had the time gone? It scared her that time had passed so quickly and would continue to pass just as rapidly. The closer it got to the moment of truth of her son’s conception, the more nervous she became. The blue-haired woman looked to the right to the table next to her, where the envelope still lay unopened. Somehow she just couldn’t open it, it wasn’t an easy thing for her to do. What if Yamcha was finally ending their relationship? What if he had written to tell her that he was coming back home? What if…?

It sounded strange, but somehow she had become accustomed to this uncertainty. She had resigned herself to whatever the future had in store for her, and was disinterested in knowing about any other pre-ordained decisions that could completely change their lives. It was better to leave things undisclosed and unknown. Once again, she picked up the envelope and was about to open it, but her fingers suddenly froze as she began to rip the seal. No, she couldn’t do it. “Go to hell!” she cursed and crumpled the paper in her hand and threw it recklessly behind her. She slumped back into her chair annoyed and laboured to breathe. Before she could waste any more thoughts on Yamcha, she heard a familiar voice next to her. 

“Don’t you check to see who or what is behind you? Baka onna...”

The familiar voice made her blood run cold, and she jumped up from her chair in fright. As she turned around, she glimpsed her extraterrestrial guest, who was perched a little further up on the roof of the building. She almost didn’t see him since he was sitting so high up. 

“What...what are you doing here? Were you eavesdropping on me?” she nervously snapped and crossed her arms, as she was finally able to make out the silhouette of the Saiyan in the darkness. 

“What would I be listening to? You’re alone and talking to no one, so what could I possibly overhear?” he asked her in a disparaging tone. 

“What are you doing here then? And so high up too. That’s quite dangerous, my dear prince.” Just as she finished speaking, the blue-haired woman realized how stupid her question was. This was Vegeta she was talking about. If he wanted to go sit up on the roof of her house, then he could. After all, it wasn’t as if he would fall and injure himself, right? 

“You’re so funny. The real question is, what are  _ you _ doing here? I come and sit almost every night on the roof without being disturbed and I’ve never seen you here at this time.”

Could that really be true? Now that Bulma thought about it, she realized that she rarely went outside at this hour. Almost never. She had just assumed that the Saiyan trained until late into the night, but it seemed that he spent a lot of time sitting on her roof, doing god knows what. He was probably daydreaming about himself and his already overinflated ego. 

“Let me remind you that this is _my_ house. I can come and go as I please and I can also stay wherever I want. That being said, I don’t have to report my whereabouts to you.” Who did this douchebag think he was?

“Who said anything about a report? I was just curious.” He smirked at her and suddenly she noticed that he had her crumpled up letter in his hand. Had she flung that thing right at him? The fact that he had her personal items in his possession did not please her one bit. 

“Give...give that back.” Bulma stretched out her right hand, demanding that he return the letter to her. 

“Why should I? I thought you were trying to dispose of this scrap of paper just now.” 

Why was he doing this to her? Every word that he said was true. It was a truth that she herself didn’t want to acknowledge. He was correct; if he hadn’t been there, the paper ball would be somewhere up on the roof of her house right now, or be somewhere else entirely where she would never see it again. How could she save face in this situation? Was he going to take the letter away from her? Or maybe even read it? The thought of him doing that made her shudder. 

Bulma felt the tears spring back into her eyes. However, she swallowed her grief and anger deep down inside of her where it couldn’t impact her. Now she had to be assertive and she couldn’t show him any weakness. “Give it here,” she commanded, still holding out her right hand to him. Even though it was dark, she could make out the black-haired fighter’s smirk. He was having fun tormenting her. 

“Say please.” 

He really had some nerve! But she had to concede that she would probably give in and tell him please. Bulma was livid at the game that Vegeta was playing with her and that he had almost beaten her into submission. He was pulling the strings and all she could do was bow down to his control. 

“Please,” she whispered in a scarcely audible voice, while she looked away from him and off to the side in annoyance. 

“I can’t hear you. You have to speak louder.”

This Saiyan was really driving her crazy! “Please, Your Majesty,” she almost screamed, and shot him a poisonous look. 

Vegeta’s cheeky grin was unmistakeable. He finally jumped down from the roof to the ground, and stood in front of her. It was only then that the inventor noticed that he was dressed in jogging pants and a T-shirt. In the heat of the moment, she could not look away from him. He stared at her smugly and waved the envelope right in her face. Bulma just wanted to snatch it, but her movements weren’t quick enough to take the letter from his hand. 

Suddenly, he was gripping the envelope in his other hand, while he mocked her. “No,” he tutted at her, and his grin disappeared slightly from his face. 

“What the fuck? I did what you asked me to do! Do you want me to bend on my knees before you? Is that what you want?” She took an indignant step away from him and regarded him with disdain. “No matter how important to me that letter is, I won’t do something like that.” 

“Onna, you really have no idea,” he sighed, while looking seriously at her with his dark opal eyes. “This was all just for fun. Even if you were on your knees, I wouldn’t give you back this piece of paper.” 

Was this arrogant monkey seriously trying to push her buttons? Why was he targeting her? Was this her punishment for lying to him? Well, she had learned her lesson once and for all and would never trick him again. “You are such a lousy...lousy...” The words did not want to leave her mouth. They were stuck on her tongue and prematurely cut off. Reprimanding him wouldn’t amount to anything, she wouldn’t sink so low as to do that and besides, any rebuke would just bounce off the proud Saiyan anyways. Yet her rage still didn’t want to subside. 

“Listen. I’m doing you a favour.”

Bulma’s ears pricked up. How was he helping her? 

“I will give you back the letter when _I_ think that you’re ready for it. Until then, it will remain in my possession.” 

Bulma’s mouth was hanging open from shock. This was all just a horrible nightmare, was it not? She just had to pinch herself and it would all be over...He was just playing a rotten trick on her to get her to do what he wanted, when he wanted. 

“This is just a bad joke, right?” The inventor was about to burst out laughing. Yes, it just had to be. Since when was Vegeta interested in helping anyone? But the more she looked into his eyes that stared back at her with frank openness, the more she had to admit that he was being completely serious with her. 

“Believe me, one day you’ll thank me for this.” 

“You really think so? I’m not so sure about that...”

“You just have to trust me.”

Had he just spoken about trust? Why should she trust someone like him? What was going on with this arrogant monkey? Bulma wondered what the real explanation was. Did the prince actually want to help her or did he just want her to be...at his mercy instead?

“You mentioned trust just now. That’s something new. I thought you told me to never trust anyone.”

“Correct. But you have no choice but to trust me.”

“Just tell me what you want so we can end this whole thing here and now,” she spluttered. There had to be an easy solution to this. The inventor couldn’t imagine why Vegeta would want to prolong this farce. What he had done so far had already tormented her enough. She just wanted a quick end to it all. 

But he didn’t seem to have any ulterior motives. The smug smirk was wiped from his face, and it was only his dark eyes, bright with sincerity, that were fixed onto her. She could have almost drowned in his eyes, that was how mesmerizing his dark opals were. What was this strange feeling she felt? But her questions were left unanswered as he interrupted her thoughts. 

“Nothing at all. It’s just like I said. When I think you’re ready to read this letter without falling into a rage, then I will give it to you. But not a moment before.” 

His voice was filled with sheer honesty. So why not just accept that things would turn out how he planned it? Perhaps he was right. It would probably be better to wait for her emotional state to calm down, so that she could read the letter with a clear head. Her feelings were still too confusing and too overwhelming for her to act rationally and to even fully comprehend the letter’s contents. However, she was struck with a sensation that was a bit misguided for the current situation and that she certainly would in hindsight regret saying, but she had to unleash it now. She could no longer hold back the tears that she had been trying so hard to suppress. So she let her feelings take over and mumbled the words...

“I...I hate you.”


	10. Curiosity Killed the Cat

Her last three words were still echoing in his head.

  


_“I hate you.”_

  


Did this Earth woman really think that anything she said would affect him? If so, she didn’t know him very well. Didn’t the woman understand that she wasn’t emotionally ready to read the letter yet? On second thought, he had no interest in meddling in her affairs. Vegeta wasn’t quite sure how he had gotten himself into this situation. Perhaps this was all just an interesting game, which was a nice change of pace from his non-stop training regime. Although he had intended on maintaining a healthy distance from the blue-haired woman, she always happened to run into him. The present time was a current example, where she had strolled onto the terrace, which was where he secretly liked to engage in silent contemplation. Fate also seemed to be conducting its own game, because how else could the woman regularly show up in the same vicinity as him? He almost found that prospect to be funny, and he would have been more amused, if a loud smack hadn’t suddenly disrupted him.

  


The noise was loud; however, the pain was just a light touch, like a small breeze that she had breathed softly on him. Bulma had her right hand extended, which she had used to slap him in the face. What...this woman dared to hit him? And why had he momentarily become so unaware of his surroundings that she even had the opportunity to slap his cheek at all?

  


“What right do you have to determine the course of my life…?” Tears were flowing down her cheeks and the blue of her eyes shone bright beneath the liquid. 

  


Why did she have to start crying now? Didn’t she understand that...Vegeta was so perplexed by her slap that he was tongue-tied. He just didn’t know how to react. On the one hand, there was the insolence that she could carry out such an assault in the first place; but on the other hand, there were those intense emotions that he saw reflected in her eyes. He wondered why people wore their hearts on their sleeves. It was only because of a stupid letter that she had gotten so hysterical and had started to cry...That response was beyond incomprehensible to him, it was really...alien.

  


Just when the Saiyan was about to unleash another arrogant remark, it suddenly got nipped in the bud, because Bulma ran away from him and the embarrassment of her emotional outburst. The Saiyan no Ouji could only hear her sobs, that rang dangerously in his ears. When he could no longer hear her footsteps, he allowed himself to let his anger subside. Had his behaviour perhaps been...out of line? He looked curiously at the envelope that still lay in his hand. What was he going to do with this thing? Keep it or possibly even read it? No, he didn’t give a damn about what this weak dumbass had written to the woman. Vegeta would keep the letter in his room, and eventually she would come to realize that his intentions weren’t as bad as she had initially presumed. 

  


Yes, he was completely right in doing what he had done. In his own way, he had meant to do her a favour, regardless of what the final outcome was. But then why...did he feel something akin to...a guilty conscience?

  


~*~

  


The next morning Bulma woke up feeling worse than ever. When she opened her eyes, she felt this burning sensation, which was the aftereffect of her raging tears from the previous night. She didn’t know exactly when, but sometime during the night, she had eventually fallen asleep from sheer exhaustion that had been caused by her crying. After having a few hours of sleep, she now replayed yesterday’s events in her mind, and felt a rising shame. Had she actually cried in front of Vegeta? “Oh man,” she sighed, and buried her head in her hands at that thought. The prince must think that she was a weak woman and someone who lost her nerve over a little game of steal-the-letter...Why had she not responded differently? If only she had remained calm. If she had had a more self-confident attitude, he would have felt compelled to return the letter to her. She wasn’t bothered by the fact that he was playing this game with her, rather she was overcome with this unpleasant feeling of embarrassment and just wanted to undo everything that had happened yesterday night. He was definitely going to bring up this subject again to ridicule her. Or had he not even read the letter and had just stamped on it with his foot instead? A series of horrible scenarios about what he might be doing with the letter, whirled through her mind, and she was having trouble trying to block it all out. At this moment, there was nothing she could do anyways. It was over and she just had to accept it and proceed in the best manner possible, which would be to pretend that it had never happened. 

  


He could stick the letter up his ass, or read it, or do whatever he wanted with it. The blue-haired woman also had her pride and she wouldn’t degrade herself any further by begging him to return the letter to her. If he thought that she would stoop so low as to do that...

  


She put her hands back down to her side and decided to get up. Everything would appear less grave after she had her morning shower. 

  


~*~

  


Vegeta went back to his room after taking his own morning shower. He looked visibly refreshed and he shook his hair to dry it, then opened his closet and put his training clothes on the bed. First, he put on his blue training suit, which clung to his body like a second skin. One part of the suit was already torn. He would have to get Bulma to produce more training gear for him, but for today’s training, it would suffice. The Saiyan no Ouji wanted to train outdoors again. Perhaps he would return to the gravity ship in a few days time, depending on when he got bored of training in the mountains. As he slipped on his boots, he wondered what he would do with the letter. Taking it along with him wouldn’t be a good idea, so he’d have to leave it in the house. The woman wouldn’t dare to enter his room...or would she?

  


At last, he had on his chest armour and gloves, and was finally ready to go. If she did dare to infiltrate his room, the letter would at least be hidden. Although there weren’t many places to hide something in his room, he didn’t want to make it easy for her. He looked over to the nightstand, where the blasted thing had been since the night before. He picked up the scrap of paper, and inspected the handwriting of the man who was paired with that strange woman. 

  


He truly didn’t understand why she had created such an uproar over this letter. It was also a mystery to him why the two were still together at all. He had already told Bulma that she didn’t look happy with the weakling. There had been no ulterior motives on his part when he had informed her of his observations. It was almost as if the two supposedly loving partners were clinging to their relationship out of necessity, just so...

  


So that the future that Kakarot had blabbed to them would never happen. It was quite amusing that the relationship of the two Earthlings was in jeopardy just because of this foresight. But the blue-haired woman didn’t want to break up with the weakling, despite that being the logical thing to do. However, the emotions he had evoked from her last night, they had been real and intense…But it wasn’t like he was interested in her feelings. Vegeta was uncertain about the true cause of her tears. Was it because he was now pulling the strings, or was it simply because she didn’t know what was written in the letter? Or was it due to the Saiyan knowing better than she did about how to act in her own best interests? He had taken the letter away to protect her from herself. But why had he done that? The reason was quite unclear to him. Maybe he wanted to do a favour, not only for her, but for all of them. 

  


Vegeta did not know how to proceed. When should he surrender the letter to her, or should he even do that at all? But one thing was certain - for now it would be a good idea to hide the letter from her. 

  


~*~

  


The following day wasn’t any better for her. No matter how she tried to distract herself, she couldn’t concentrate. Her thoughts only revolved around the letter that Vegeta was forcibly keeping from her. Her mother had come into the lab hours earlier to ask again about the letter. The blonde was just too curious and wanted to know what the former desert bandit had written her. Bulma had sent her away with a few short words, saying that there was nothing to be concerned about and that the letter had contained nothing particularly interesting. In all seriousness, it wasn’t like the inventor could just reveal the truth to her mother, right? If she had mentioned that Vegeta had taken the letter, her mother would have wanted to question him about it. That was something she wanted to avoid, which would only make her more embarrassed than she already was. The Saiyan probably really believed that she couldn’t cope with reading the letter right now. There was no way that he would tell her something that was a half truth or a lie. But what if she had just told him that she wouldn’t open the letter? Her mother would have been intent on getting the letter back and reading it out for all to hear. Yes, the lie that the letter contained nothing particularly interesting, was the best course of action that caused the minimum of damage. 

  


She sunk back into her office chair in annoyance and looked pensively at the drawer where her timeline was hidden. She was glad that no one cleaned her work area. There was nothing that Dr. Briefs and Bulma hated more than having important documents moved from their original location. Yet if someone were to rummage through her drawer, they would discover her little secret...But who would do that and who could decipher her messy scribblings anyways? She had added notes to her timeline, but without any background knowledge, any inquiring minds wouldn’t be able to make any headway on what she was doing. In addition, her parents still didn’t know that Vegeta and her might one day...

  


She couldn’t even complete that thought since the words sounded so ridiculous in her head. She continued to stare at the drawer for a long time, before she moved forward and opened it. Bulma fished through the drawer until she found the timeline under a stack of papers, then she spread it in front of her and examined it with curiosity. She reached for a pen from the other end of her desk and blacked out the sections that had already elapsed. Six months out of the total three years had already gone by. This short period of time had already been extremely taxing for her. How was she going to survive the next two and a half years? And when would she see Yamcha again? Without thinking, she marked a point on the timeline that was from many weeks before. That was the day when her boyfriend had deserted her. Yes, he had been gone for far too long now. 

  


Once again, thoughts of the letter came rushing back to her. What if he had given her a date, the day when he would return to her? Or...or…?

  


Although she had grown accustomed to all this uncertainty, now a tremendous sense of curiosity was eating away at her. If Vegeta had not taken this letter away from her...

  


Suddenly, another thought struck her. The Saiyan had been gone for almost the entire day while he trained far away in the wilderness. He might not have taken the letter with him. No, he definitely would not have done that. A piece of paper would only get in the way or would get shredded during his training. “His room,” she said, as if by magic. She was fairly certain that the door to his room wasn’t locked. It had been over a year since Vegeta had started living at her house, so she had gotten to know a bit about him and his habits. He didn’t possess anything that someone would want to poke their nose in. His room was only furnished with the furniture that she had supplied. But could she really bring herself to go snooping around in his room? 

  


“No, that would be wrong,” she said as she put her pen back down on the desk. Next, she folded her timeline in half and stowed it back into the drawer. She quickly closed the drawer and tried to focus on her work again. But it wasn’t as easy to do as she thought it would be. The urge to comb through his room was too great. But it was wrong. She herself would not approve of someone rummaging through her things without her permission. But with Vegeta, it was completely different. As she noted before, he had no personal effects. So what was the big deal? It wasn’t like she’d come across something scandalous. That conclusion helped to put her plans into motion. She felt a bit bad, but it wasn’t like he wanted the letter for himself anyways. The Saiyan no Ouji had started this game, so she had to finish it. And it wasn’t like she wanted to steal the letter. No, she just wanted to open and read it, before sealing it back up and returning it to its hiding place. Of course, no one would be none the wiser about her little act of cunning. The prince was still hours away, so he would never find out. With a little stealth, she could achieve anything, it was a trick that she had mastered as a child. 

  


She continued debating over whether she should go and check his room or not. It was only becoming harder to resist the temptation the more she deliberated, until she finally got up and took off her lab coat. 

  


~*~

  


Even though she knew she was not being followed, she cautiously walked down the hallway to Vegeta’s room. She looked back over her shoulder every now and again to ensure that she was still alone. Bulma was being so quiet that she could almost hear her own heart beating in her chest. Why was she so nervous? Was it because she felt guilty or was it because of the fear of getting caught? But how could he catch her when he was god knew how many kilometres away? When she finally stood in front of his room, she mustered up all her courage and slowly turned the doorknob. Just as she suspected, his door wasn’t locked. To prevent her parents from seeing what she was doing and from interfering with her plans, she immediately closed the door behind her. She was now in his bedroom, and it was a place that she hadn’t entered in a long time. The last time she had been in there was when she had provided him with some clothes and other essentials. But he had quickly banished her from the room with his angry eyes. She had only meant well when she had intruded on him that one time, and until now she had left him alone, thinking that he needed his space. She was under the impression that he had never had his own private space before moving in with her. Perhaps he had been so overwhelmed by the new living situation, and that was why he had been so dismissive towards her. Bulma just never knew how the Saiyan would react on any given day. 

  


Without making a sound, she tiptoed past his enormous bed. She came across some books that were sitting on his nightstand, whose pages were dog-eared and creased. Did the prince like to read in his spare time? Even if they were books by Earthlings? That last thought was most amusing. Her attention was piqued by the book on the top of the pile that was about Greek mythology. This was very interesting. So Vegeta did like to do something besides hanging from her roof or dedicating his heart and soul to training. In a way, the book suited him. Bulma had never noticed that books on this subject had been missing from the living room. When had he taken these to read? As she rifled through his pile of books, she remarked that he had neglected to take any of her mother’s romance novels. Just the mere thought of the Saiyan no Ouji reading a love story...it was hilarious. 

  


What was she doing? Had she come into his room to pry into his personal life? No, she had come here for an entirely different reason. She began searching for her boyfriend’s letter. “Where did he hide it?” she asked herself, as she put the book back down onto the top of the pile. There was a desk on the other side of the room and she carefully inspected each of the drawers for the object of her search. But the letter was nowhere to be found. All the drawers were as clean and empty as they had been on the first day that Vegeta had started occupying this room. Bulma continued her search by looking in the Saiyan’s closet. However, she only found some Earthling clothes and a few tattered training suits. It couldn’t be that...She breathed out in frustration and sat at the foot of his bed. Where could he have hidden it? Had he actually taken the letter with him? Did he have so little trust in her? 

  


“Trust...” At that word, she had to stop short. Apparently, she couldn’t be trusted. As she was well aware, she was now intruding on Vegeta’s domain without him knowing it. In addition, he never would have given her his consent to do this. Did he even suspect that she would ever go and explore his room?

  


Bulma looked back and forth throughout the room. Where could he even hide the letter? His drawers were empty along with his closet. That left only his books to look through...“The books!” Her hand shot forth like a bullet from a gun, and she moved to the head of the bed. She nervously opened one of the books and roughly turned the pages. There was nothing in the first book. When she reached the bottom of the pile, she finally found her slightly crumpled letter in the cover of the last old tome. Once she had determined that the letter was still unopened, the blue-haired woman breathed a sigh of relief. She inwardly thanked the prince several times over for being honest enough to leave the letter untouched. 

  


Now that she finally had the letter in her hands, she was unsure about how to go forward. Was she doing the right thing? Was she really ready to read the letter with an open mind?

  


“Dammit,” she cursed, then she spread herself across the Saiyan’s bed. As she was lying down, she breathed in the scent from his pillow. It was a pleasant smell that was incredibly...manly. Once in awhile, she’d find herself close to the fighter, and she remembered the smell that had been exuded from his pores. It was the same smell that now enveloped his pillow and it was pleasant, even almost intoxicating...

  


Bulma shook her head at her wandering thoughts. Why in the hell was she thinking about Vegeta? Yamcha must have been gone for far too long...She reorganized her thoughts and held the letter up so that she could look at it again. Now that it was directly below the light, she could make out some of the words through the envelope. But everything just didn’t feel right to her. “What am I doing here?” she asked herself while clawing at the covers with her hand. She was really acting stupid. Vegeta would eventually give her the letter, she just had to be patient! Right there and then, she decided to abandon the entire plan. But as it so often happened, things would go and turn out differently than she expected. 

  


“I would like to know the answer to that too,” growled a second voice from the doorway. The blue-haired woman was so startled that she dropped the letter, which landed on her chest. She didn’t want to turn her head in the direction of the voice, because she would then have to face reality. How could she have been so absorbed in her own thoughts that she didn’t hear the door opening? And how long had the Saiyan been there watching her? How could she explain her presence in his room? She felt an overwhelming sense of déjà vu. This was just like the time when she had returned home from a romantic dinner with her boyfriend. Why was fate always bringing them together...was there a higher power that wanted that?

  


“I’m talking to you…,” Vegeta continued as he approached her. 

  


Bulma heard his steps coming closer and closer to her until he appeared directly in front of her line of vision, looking dirty and sweaty after his day of training. 

“I...uhh…” Well, what could she say in her defense? She couldn’t think of a credible lie right then. If she hadn’t been holding the letter in her hand, she could have conjured up all sorts of tall tales. But as it was...

  


“This isn’t what it looks like,” she began, and in actuality, that wasn’t a lie. Just when she had decided to call off her plan, he had crept up on her. It was just her luck that he had to appear at that exact moment...

  


“So what is it then? It looks as though you didn’t come here for the letter,” he surmised, and crossed his arms. 

  


Bulma’s ears pricked up at his interpretation of her actions. 

  


“You really think so? Well…,” she quietly muttered. Had he not noticed her holding the letter or if he did, why was he responding like that? He was behaving rather bizarrely. 

  


“No. I know exactly what you’re doing here.” A strange grin curled around his lips. 

  


What could the monkey possibly be referring to?

  


“And that would be?” The inventor straightened her upper body, so that she could get a better look at him. His gaze did not betray any of his thoughts. It was odd that he was being so quiet. Not for the first time, she realized that she had no idea about what was going on in the warrior’s head and what he thought of her or even about this whole comical situation that they were now in. Her heart pounded wildly against her chest, for it was obviously not an everyday experience to be lying on his bed while he stood there, looking down at her from above. And she just couldn’t manage to unravel the look that he was giving her. They had been alone together on several occasions, but being in his bed was really a step further than she wanted to go. As if everything wasn’t already absurd enough, his next words unsettled her even more and made the dark and murky world of the Saiyan’s mind increasingly peculiar to her. 

  


“It’s perfectly clear. You want me.” 

  



	11. Smoke Signals

The Saiyan’s muscles strained as he concentrated on controlling his rising ki. The power level he had achieved while training in the gravity ship was unprecedented. With each passing day, Vegeta could feel his strength reaching new heights and he wasn’t even close to hitting his limits. This was just the beginning of something big - he was sure of it. The gravity chamber still had higher settings that he had not even attempted yet. If he could master the highest setting, then there was no doubt in his mind that he could at the very least be able to transform into a Super Saiyan.

Despite his joy at progressing in his training, there was still a strange feeling that lingered inside him. His thoughts revolved around the recent events concerning Bulma and that damn letter. Naturally, he hadn’t read the letter since it didn’t concern him. His curiosity, or rather, his interest was indeed piqued, but not to the extent that he would risk invoking the wrath of the Earth woman. But then he remembered the sight of her crying, followed by her declaring her hatred of him. She must really despise him now, but he was still convinced that he was doing the best thing for her. If his hunch was correct, the weak fighter, who had run away with his tail between his legs months ago, had only written to tell her that it was over. It would be a weight off the weakling’s chest to remove himself from the heavy pressure of the proposed future. In addition, Vegeta did not believe that Yamcha had it in him to persevere against the tide of fate and his current relationship problems. And it must only be getting worse for him the longer he stayed with Bulma, right?

However, the Saiyan no Ouji couldn’t help but wonder again why those two oddballs were even still together. Granted, he didn’t know either one of them very well, but that black-haired Earthling seemed like such a pussy who had zero self-confidence. In any case, it appeared that the woman had everything under her control. Yamcha’s lack of self-confidence was only considered a plus by Vegeta when it came to fighting. He remembered only too well how the weakling had been killed by one of his Saibamen. That memory alone was already him thinking too much about Yamcha’s pathetic fighting style though. He really needed to gain more confidence so that he could handle his woman. But based on his assumptions, Yamcha had chickened out and had only written something hurried and unsatisfying in his letter. 

But why did he care? He should just give Bulma the letter so she would stop her constant whining. That would be the smartest move to end this game of theirs. But he couldn’t bring himself to do it. Some part of him did not want her to read the letter. It was almost as if he didn’t want her to get hurt...

“That’s just nonsense,” he said to himself while lowering his ki. His muscles visibly relaxed as his power level normalized. 

Honest - preventing her from getting hurt was not his primary motivation in keeping the letter! Vegeta thought about the letter’s hiding spot. The envelope was concealed in the cover of one of the books that lay on his nightstand. She would never be able to find it even if she went and searched his room. However, she wouldn’t dare do that anyways. The Saiyan folded his arms pensively and tried to get into the woman’s mindset. No, he didn’t take her to be that foolhardy. He trusted that she didn’t have the guts to go and rummage through his room. He wanted to abandon that crazy notion, but he couldn’t get it out of his head. What was he? An idiot? Of course she would trespass into his room! The woman was more often than not bored and looking to stir up trouble, even he had noticed this.

“This isn’t helping. I can’t concentrate anymore,” he sighed and then launched himself into the air to make the return trip back to Capsule Corp. This discontented feeling wasn’t going to disappear anytime soon and it would be better to go back and figure out what the woman was up to. 

~*~

Her eyes stared at him in disbelief as he stated those words. Her pupils were stretched wide and her mouth was gaping open from shock.

“It’s perfectly clear. You want me.” 

~*~

Bulma couldn’t believe her ears. What the hell was this conceited monkey thinking? Did he really mean that? She was so shaken by what he had said. She could not directly determine whether he meant to be sarcastic or if he was actually being serious. What did he mean exactly when he said that she wanted him? The fact that she was still alone in his room with him was making her nervous. Goddamnit, she just wanted to leave. She did not want this awkward closeness that accompanied being all alone with the Saiyan. Would he force her to do things she didn’t want to do? Cold sweat ran down her face that acted almost like a barrier that would separate her from him. 

“Let’s get on with it then,” he prompted. “You’ve only been staging this whole back and forth with the letter in an attempt to invade my personal space.”

“Umm, what?” Bulma was absolutely stunned. She had initially thought that it was Vegeta himself who desired her, which was the reason why he had made that declaration. But no, he was passing the blame onto her. This guy obviously had a screw loose. 

“You are completely insane! Did you suffer a blow to the head during training?” Her fear was changing into rage and the blue-haired woman glared at him angrily. 

“You’ve probably been dreaming about getting closer to me and you’ve also forgotten your boyfriend so quickly. No one would even know what you were plotting. But you’re making a mistake if you want to try that with me!”

“Pardon me…?” The words that were coming out of his mouth were simply unbelievable. Bulma wanted to counter, but every retort got trapped in her throat. Was she really giving off the impression that she wanted him? That Yamcha practically meant nothing to her? Was that really true, or was the Saiyan just trying to provoke her? 

“You knew that I was hanging out on the roof at night, did you not?” he accused her again, without giving her the opportunity to digest what he had already said. 

“No, dammit! And even if I had, I would not have tried to manipulate the situation. You can’t possibly believe…”

“Then explain to me what you’re doing in my bed and why you’re sniffing my pillow!”

Bulma felt caught in the act. She had really gotten herself into a fine mess. But why had she done that? It had just happened automatically without any hidden agenda. In actuality, she had only come to his room for the letter, and had not expected to be disturbed. How could she have foreseen that Vegeta would return at that exact moment to catch her red-handed?

“This isn’t what it looks like,” she said defensively. Bulma rose from the bed, still holding the letter in her hand and stood directly in front of the Saiyan no Ouji. His dark opal eyes bored into hers, demanding her to come up with a better explanation. However, she did not have another excuse ready. “Now listen here,” she began anew, “I should not have entered your room, that was wrong. The truth is, I just wanted to secretly read the letter, and in the process, I forgot where I was. That’s why I was lying down in your bed. There’s nothing more to it. I don’t want to get any closer to you than necessary.” 

His reproachful gaze still scrutinized her and she felt extremely uncomfortable. Bulma wished that she had an inkling of an idea about what was going through the Saiyan’s mind and whether he said such incendiary remarks to unsettle or hurt her. Or was it his own protective shield that he was barricading himself with? A safeguard he needed to prevent any possible...

“Tch, ok then,” he hissed, seeming to believe her explanation. “I’ll let it go this time. But don’t ever enter my room again. I don’t know what else you’d have to search for here.” She sighed with relief, and was about to retreat to her own bed, when he stopped her. “Aren’t you forgetting something?” 

Vegeta grinned smugly at her as he blocked her exit from his room. What was he doing? Once again, Bulma felt her heart beat wildly against her chest. At first, he had tried to claim that she wanted something from him, but now it seemed like he was the one who actually wanted to get closer to her. She could not read his true intentions from his eyes, but she thought she could detect a certain desire there. Did he really want to…?

“Vegeta, don’t...just drop it. I love Yamcha…,” she breathed and the inventor felt her face grow bright red. She immediately looked away from him. But it was good that she was making everything perfectly clear once and for all. Vegeta couldn’t believe that she would just give herself to him. What was he actually thinking? Just because her boyfriend had been gone for a long time, that didn’t mean that she would... 

Very slowly and very carefully, he said, “You really need to go visit the doctor…” She was once again startled by what he was saying, and looked back into his face with confusion and indignation. 

“Give me back the letter.” 

At that moment, her jaw dropped down to the floor. She turned her head slightly, noting that the Saiyan was right. She still had Yamcha’s letter in her hand and would have stomped out of the room with it. Her face was burning bright red, but this time it was out of embarrassment for revealing that she did not “want” him and that yes, she did still “love” Yamcha. Oh god, how stupid could she get? 

“Uh, yes...here…,” those were the last words she uttered before she crawled out of his room like a tarantula, without a backwards glance and without waiting for the fighter’s response. She had not just walked into a trap - she had fallen face first into one. 

~*~

Vegeta had to smile as he saw her rush from his room with a beet-red face. Did she really think that he was interested in her? Admittedly, she had caused him some confusion. When he had stealthily entered his room and saw her lying in his bed, he couldn’t help but interpret her behaviour sexually. At the very least, her actions had revealed that intention. As she cuddled his pillow, he noticed the deep breath she had taken from it. Likewise with the letter, that she had been clutching like an ornament in her hand. It was as if she had only come there to wait for him and to feel closer to him in some way.

After her half-assed explanation, he had to concede that maybe he had been too hasty with his accusations. He himself did not quite know why he had been trying to provoke her and why he had bothered to conjure up such fantasies in her head, especially when he knew where they could lead. No, he most definitely did not want to start anything with her. He had already made his position on this issue clear to her before. The prince let himself fall down onto his bed and stared contemplatively at the ceiling. As an aside, he put the put the letter back onto his nightstand. Maybe he would give her back the letter sometime later in the week. He would wait for a few days and then return it to her, so that he would be the one to finish this back and forth. Yes, that’s exactly what he’d do. Until then, he had to find a new hiding spot for that worthless scrap of paper. 

Vegeta abruptly got up and inspected the pillow that he had been lying on. “Now my pillow smells like her damn hairspray,” he cursed, throwing the pillow to the floor. He definitely had to change his bedsheets, otherwise he’d have to struggle to fall asleep while inhaling her scent. 

~*~

Bulma crept back to her room and wanted to scream loudly. Vegeta must think that she should be committed to an insane asylum. How could she ever think that he wanted to kiss her?

_ Aren’t you forgetting something? _

Why did she have to forget about the letter at that exact moment? Why had she interpreted his words as him wanting a kiss from her? It was even more embarrassing when she considered that he had previously spelled it out for her that he didn’t want to get close to her and that he had rebuked the idea of having more than a platonic interest in her. At this point in time, she wouldn’t even consider him a friend. Kuririn, Son-kun, Oolong...those were her friends, not some stubborn pseudo prince who had nothing better to do than to train for the entire day and to provoke her. He was miles from arousing any romantic interest in her. 

“Idiot,” she muttered to herself, and then she was overcome with shame from today’s events. The whole thing was just a huge misunderstanding, but there would be no point in trying to explain herself further. She could already imagine what that would accomplish - more chaos! So she decided to do what was best, which would be to pretend that the whole thing had never happened and to stay out of his way until he decided to come to her on his own to return the letter. Yes, that’s exactly what she’d do. 

~*~

And so the days passed in accordance with Bulma’s plans. She tried to keep out of the Saiyan’s way by purposely sleeping in or staying in bed for as long as she could to ensure that the fighter had left the house. Unexpectedly, she had to conclude that he had finished with his training in the mountains, and as of late, she found her extraterrestrial guest locked up in the gravity ship. He would isolate himself in there until the evening, which suited her just fine. And as per usual, he didn’t show up at normal eating hours, and mostly just ate alone. He had always maintained that kind of schedule before, so why should it be any different now? Very rarely they crossed paths, but she could not utter more than a hushed hello to him. It wasn’t anything out of the ordinary for them not to talk much, since he wasn’t someone who could tolerate long chats and it was always up to her to keep the conversation going. However, the Saiyan no Ouji wasn’t introverted, he just didn’t care to discuss things that were of zero significance to him. That was totally understandable, Bulma thought, and slowly over time, she was finding out more and more amusing things about the fighter. Admittedly, he was an interesting creature, and sometimes she caught herself thinking about the prince more often than she would have liked. And when she thought about him, it drove away the worries concerning her actual boyfriend and his letter. 

In the end, it didn’t really matter to her what the message in the letter was. At least that was how she felt at the present time. Perhaps she would have a different perspective about it next week. This piece of paper was really giving her a lot of grief and causing her to have mood swings. At the beginning, the idea of retrieving the letter had been quite close to her heart but now she mostly felt indifferent about it. She almost had to commend the Saiyan for making the decision for her. Even if Vegeta would never admit it, he had more empathy than a lot of people. But she also would never tell him that either, it would just make him angry and he would deny having any emotions. You had to be careful about what you told him and what you didn’t, this was just one of the quirks that the blue-haired woman had discovered about the black-haired fighter. 

This week she succumbed to something that she hated, or at least that she had hated up until now. She didn’t know why she did it, she had just been struck by an irrepressible urge. Usually, she hated people who had this habit, but now she could count herself as one of them. Bulma had started to smoke.  

One evening, when she was certain that Vegeta was busy eating dinner, she had climbed onto the roof of Capsule Corp. As she sat up there, relaxing and enjoying the view, she noticed that the view from up high was really rather beautiful. In tandem with the city lights, the stars were shining down from heaven. What would the Saiyan think, if only he were there to marvel at that sight?

In addition, it wasn’t as dangerous on the roof as she had initially assumed. From below, the view was quite different. She only had to change her perspective. On another night, she had gone up onto the roof and lost herself while gazing at the city that glittered below her. What was Yamcha doing now? Was he also staring at the stars, lost in his thoughts? That feeling of temptation to go and find the letter, the very same one that had visited her a week before in Vegeta’s room, hit her again. This time, however, she would ignore it. The Saiyan would give her the letter back once she was fully ready for it. 

“Didn’t you tell me that being up here was too dangerous?” asked a voice that instantly disrupted her thoughts. A quick glance to the left revealed who had also joined her on the roof. It was none other than Vegeta himself, who stood in front of her wearing his standard training suit. 

“I never said such a thing,” she denied, and pulled herself up with a grin. She would never have suspected that he would finish dinner this early. The Saiyan race was really something special. “I’ll just go now and leave you alone with the view.” Bulma stubbed out her cigarette and was about to descend back to the ground when Vegeta halted her movements with his next statement. 

“Wait. I have something for you,” he smirked and after taking a few steps, he sat down beside her. Bulma’s breath caught in her throat as she guessed what he had brought for her. It could only be one thing. 

“Don’t tell me…,” she exhaled, and at that moment her pulse beat rapidly. 

“I think I’ve tortured you enough…,” he said in a somewhat sarcastic tone and reached into his pocket with his right hand. He gently brushed against her left hand, which made goosebumps dot across her skin. This close proximity to him was making her nervous. At least there wasn’t a bed up on the roof. That would only increase her nerves. But having him sitting so close to her was already accomplishing that. 

“I don’t know if I’m ready for it yet…,” she stammered, pulling her body a little further away from him so that she could increase the safe distance between them.

“If not now, when?” he smirked, offering her the still unopened envelope. Slowly, she approached him, until she finally grabbed the letter. Her heart beat wildly as she grasped it with her clammy fingers and stared at the words written by her boyfriend. The way he had written her name and address...what if he wanted to call it a day? What if…?

“I can’t do it,” she whimpered, and mindlessly returned the letter to Vegeta. “Read it to me.” 

Had she actually said that? She wanted Vegeta, the mighty warrior, the prince of all Saiyans to read her shitty break up letter? But if not him, who else could do it? Her mother wouldn’t be a suitable option, neither were any of her friends. Bulma would not be interested in explaining to Oolong, Chi Chi, or whoever else that Yamcha had probably left her. With that being considered, Vegeta was an excellent choice. Who would he tell? As taciturn as he was, it would be a great shock if he even told someone what his favourite food was. 

“You’re not being serious…,” he growled and stared at the letter that was once again back in his possession. 

“Please…,” she begged him, while staring into his dark opal eyes.  And then he finally reluctantly yielded. He wordlessly opened the letter and unfolded the paper inside. She got a quick glimpse of the letter before she tried to get a better look at it. Was there a confession in those lines that it was all over?

However, Vegeta was only reading the letter in his head, not aloud to her. Perhaps he wanted to take a look at it first and then tell her the gist of it after. A few minutes passed, then he turned away and turned the letter face-down so that she could not peek at it again. Damn, what did that mean?

“Well…,” the Saiyan no Ouji hissed and gazed into the night sky, while propping himself up with his right hand. He was keeping the blue-haired woman in suspense. But why not tell her what the letter contained?

“Now tell me what you read...please.” She stared into the dark eyes of the fighter who apparently was searching for the right words to say to her. 

“Little woman…,” he exhaled and turned his head to look directly into her eyes, “...I think you have to be strong now.” 

A slight grin danced across his face. Was he making fun of her? Did he find it pleasurable to torture her or to be the bearer of bad news? That was just too much for her to take…

Panic rose inside her. The Saiyan shouldn’t be the one to tell her this. Why had she allowed him to open the letter in the first place? It was blind panic that drove her next action and she was not aware of how strange her request sounded. 

“Don’t tell me anything. Just shut your fucking mouth!” she screamed at him and without thinking, she reached for him and hugged him tight. Her head was positioned at his chest and she could feel his heart beating. She just had the urge to hide and run away from the letter’s contents. But the longer she stayed nestled against his chest, the faster his heartbeat became. God, what was she doing? And why hadn’t he immediately pushed her away?

She quickly broke away from him once she realized what she was doing. Her hands trembled as she ripped them from his chest. With her deep blue eyes, she stared into the bewildered face of her extraterrestrial guest, who did not quite understand the reason for her emotional outburst. 

“Sorry...I was just having a knee-jerk reaction…,” she explained nervously. Her face reddened and it was as if she could detect a slight blush on his face as well. There was definitely something in the air and everything was eerily silent. It was so quiet that she could even hear her own heart beating. What was this feeling flowing through her right now?

And in the next second, something happened that she could not have expected even in her wildest dreams. She listened to the words that she had hoped for and had eagerly wanted to hear. But everything suddenly seemed so surreal to her that she lost sight of her surroundings. What Vegeta was revealing to her was really sweeping her off her feet. 


	12. Questions upon questions

What had come over this woman? Vegeta had been visibly uncomfortable when the woman had started clutching his T-shirt in a panic and when he had felt her flushed face press against his chest. He would have preferred to have taken a more cautionary approach and pushed her away or done something else to end their embrace, but he was just too shocked at her unexpected move. And by the time he had realized what was going on, she had already pulled away from him. 

“Sorry...I was just having a knee-jerk reaction…,” she stammered with her blue eyes staring at him in shame. 

This woman had to really be suicidal to do something like that to him. As soon as he told her what was in the letter, he would quickly separate himself from her. Her continued presence was just making him more nervous with each passing second. He had envisioned this whole debacle with the letter concluding in a much smoother manner. He was just supposed to hand off the letter and they would leave each other alone. But she had asked that he read the letter aloud to her, as a friend would do. 

    

Friend, Vegeta thought. They were definitely not friends. The last person who had even been close to being his friend had died long ago. In addition, that friend had died by his very own hand. So you could see how much he valued friendship. Thus, the blue-haired woman need not mistake him as her friend. Not that she had directly called him that - but the implication was clear.

    

He did not know why he remained sitting there or why he had even read the letter. Perhaps his curiosity had driven him to do it. In some respects, he was interested in what the weakling had written to her despite not caring about what impact the words might have on the woman. But having been given her blessing, he could now satisfy his thirst for knowledge without guilt. Guilt was perhaps the wrong word, rather it was an uncomfortable feeling that overwhelmed him if he poked his nose too deeply into her affairs. In a way, it was uncomfortable just to be near her, especially after their most recent clashes. But of course he presented himself as being completely uninterested and pretended to not know what she wanted from him, However, inwardly, this uncomfortable feeling was just building every day. That was one of the main reasons why he was so fond of sitting up on the roof alone, so that he’d be undisturbed and could let his thoughts roam free while he tried to process it all, Vegeta had to admit that he was becoming more nervous in two respects as time went on. First, there was still the issue of the androids and of becoming a Super Saiyan. And the second one was her. Naturally, he wasn’t even close to developing feelings for her. However, to ensure that a certain future would occur, one didn’t need to develop any far-reaching emotions, that the Saiyan probably didn’t have in him to feel and that he also didn’t even want. The only way that future would come to pass would be from a short-lived fling. Vegeta could not deny a having sex drive, even if it was only minimal. But he was always successful in ignoring, suppressing or swallowing those desires until they were hidden deep within him, where no one could guess that he suffered from any inner conflicts. And nowadays he did not even experience those urges, he just felt empty inside. 

But then he remembered that he had told her that he had already made a decision concerning their potential future together. Although, the truth was that he had only been lying to himself. He had not made up his mind in any way regarding that matter. The only thing he had instructed her to do was to stay away from him as he erected an invisible shield that threatened even more distance between them, but this woman was really insane. She didn’t get deterred by anything. He could admit that he actually liked that kind of attitude. She was the only Earthling who wasn’t scared shitless when he was around. Nonetheless, the Saiyan no Ouji wasn’t ever going to express any interest in her, not now and not in the future either. 

    

“Your oh-so-wonderful boyfriend doesn’t want to break up with you, if that’s what you want to know,” he taunted, as he already knew what was in the letter while she didn’t. Blue eyes met his with uncertainty, appealing to him for more information. Vegeta got up, folded the paper and left it right in front of her. “He must be having a mid-life crisis, because he’s asking you...for something.” That should be a big enough hint so that she could figure out what Yamcha had written on her own. He had no desire to be part of any resulting emotional outburst, so it was time for him to go. But just as the Saiyan was about to jump down from the roof, her voice stopped him. 

    

“Wait, why are you leaving so soon?” 

Had she not heard what he just said? That her idiot boyfriend...that he...Vegeta had some understanding about why such a thing would be important to some people. Yet oddly, the blue-haired woman wasn’t responding to that. Why was she so intent on having him stay close to her now? 

“I’ve been listening to you complain for far too long... just leave me out of your stupid emotions and problems…,” he growled, and to avoid any further recourse from her, he just jumped off the roof. He had wanted to be alone up there, but it wasn’t like he could remove the human woman from her own house. Now that he thought about it further, he really wanted her to just leave him alone. He was getting a headache just from that short encounter with her. 

~*~

    

In dismay, she looked at the spot that the Saiyan had occupied. Dammit, why was he leaving her all alone now? She had finally scared him away with her pushiness. Though that was an understandable reaction. Nevertheless, she was still annoyed that he had left her alone with the letter. But now she finally had the chance to read the letter. What was Vegeta talking about? Yamcha really didn’t want to break up with her?

    

She grabbed the piece of paper in excitement and unfolded it. It was a long letter that looked like it had been written with a trembling hand. But that had nothing to do with nerves on the former desert bandit’s part. In the first paragraph, he immediately apologized for his bad penmanship that was due to being badly injured by Tenshinhan and not having had access to any senzu beans. Apparently his injuries had been so severe that he had been out cold for days. When he had awakened, he realized what he was fighting for - and above all, for who. 

Bulma clutched her hand to her mouth and read the next paragraph which was incredibly moving, since Yamcha had described that he was only thinking of her, of her good and loving traits, as well as only desiring to live a peaceful life by her side. He also mentioned more of her positive qualities, which was just the icing on the cake. A tear rolled down her cheek and her breath stilled. She had not expected Yamcha to put his heart and soul into this message based on the last letter he had sent her. Finally, he was apologizing for not having written something appropriate before, that his heart had been consumed with jealousy and false pride and that he had been tormented by nightmares of her and Vegeta…

“Oh shit,” she said in horror. Just then she remembered that Vegeta had read all this. What did he make of the black-haired fighter’s words? Had he imagined that her and Yamcha...god, this was embarrassing. The prince must think that he was part of a bad comedy. 

Bulma ignored her rising embarrassment as she read the last paragraph of the letter, finally free of Vegeta trying to mislead her, So this was what the Saiyan no Ouji was trying to imply, the question she thought no one would ever ask her. It seemed so surreal but it was real, and it was all the blue-haired woman had ever hoped for. She read the last sentence aloud, so that it would become even more...real. 

“Would you marry me?”

~*~

The next day, Bulma was in her lab sipping on her coffee. She didn’t really know how to respond to this question. Wasn’t this what she had always wanted? To settle down and to have kids...with Yamcha?

Was that really destined to be her future?

Would marrying Yamcha be the right thing to do? But then she wondered what would happen to the boy from the future and if he would simply cease to exist. If only she knew his name! Why couldn’t he just come before her and answer all her questions? Her future self certainly knew more about the space-time continuum. It would be so much easier to make a decision if she had more information. 

She picked up her boyfriend’s letter and re-read the lines where he asked her to be his wife. The blue-haired woman was still in shock, and couldn’t really register what was going on. She didn’t know how to react or how to feel! Shouldn’t she be feeling overjoyed? And be in rapture that the love of her life had popped the big question? But she just didn’t have an answer to that question. 

    

“Why have you been gone for so long?...,” she sighed and put the letter back on her desk. Yes, she missed him. She also believed that she still had feelings of love for him. But it wouldn’t feel right to say yes. What would even happen if she did say she would marry him? Life probably wouldn’t change that much for the immediate future. It would be the usual song and dance except that Yamcha would have the assurance that she wouldn’t be so quick to leave him. Well, separating was still a possibility. 

But why was she thinking about breaking up right now? Hadn’t she just been scared that Yamcha was going to break things off with her? Or had it just been the fear of having to address a potentially unpleasant situation? 

The blue-haired woman had to admit that the last time she had been alone with the Saiyan had been quite thrilling and that he himself was exciting too. At the beginning, she could have never imagined what her future self could have seen in him since he was not of a kind or considerate nature. However, his honesty was refreshing and his pride...well, she had hated that initial posturing from him. Kakarot this...Kakarot that. But slowly she had come to understand him, to understand that it meant everything to him to become number one. Every living creature had its strengths and weaknesses, and it was good to see that the Saiyan no Ouji was no different. That almost made him seem...human. 

What did Vegeta think about Yamcha asking for her hand in marriage? He had read the letter and right after, he had fled the scene. Could she detect a hint of jealousy on his part? It was strange, but for some reason, she wanted the black-haired fighter to experience that sensation on her account, which would signify that he was thinking about her every now and again. 

“What are you doing?” she asked herself, shaking her head. What had gotten into her? Why was she clamouring for the affection of someone who could blow up the whole planet? This wasn’t making any sense! But deep down, she knew it did indeed make sense and it would explain the existence of her future son. But no. It just couldn’t be that simple. Thinking about Vegeta like this was just plain wrong!  

“I should be concentrating on work,” she sighed and took a sip of her coffee. Bulma sat back down at her desk and examined the hardware, which would be the new key component of the gravity chamber. Recent calculations and inspections had shown that the old model was still working flawlessly except for the leakage of some gravity rays, which might be fatal to humans. Vegeta wasn’t human but she wanted to eliminate this defect with the new model and didn’t want to feel responsible if something bad happened. If everything went smoothly, she’d be able to install the upgrade in one or two weeks. 

~*~

Although it was ill-advised, she decided to go visit the Saiyan that evening. He was probably sitting on the roof as usual, despite the autumn air slowly growing cold. During the day, she had debated whether it would be a good idea, but she had ultimately decided to go see him anyways. He had also read her letter and she was interested in his take on it. Vegeta was the only other one besides her and Yamcha who knew about it. Bulma hadn’t even told her parents about Yamcha’s proposal. Moreover, she still didn’t even know what her answer was, at least not with 100% certainty. 

The blue-haired woman put on her jacket and climbed up onto the top of the roof. As expected, he was standing there as still as a statue. He acted as if he were unaware of her presence, but she knew he could sense her ki. As she approached him gradually, she could hear him lowly growl, “What do you want?”

“I just want to talk to you,” she explained and sat down to his left. He did not pay her any attention but continued to stare out into the dark night sky. 

“I have nothing to discuss.” He wanted to end the conversation abruptly but Bulma was not to be deterred. She hadn’t even come there to discuss any personal matters, but of course, she wasn’t going to give up that easily just because Vegeta wanted her to. 

“Once you hear what I have to say, you’ll be happy that you listened to me, “she said confidently and struck him on his left shoulder. She couldn’t elicit more than a faint murmur of acceptance from him. “I’m working on a few things and I want to take your measurements for the next generation of your training suit.” 

“If it’s like my old suit then it’s not necessary to take any measurements. Those suits always stretch,” he hissed, trying to make her understand that he wanted to be alone. 

“I need to know your basic size nevertheless. You can’t spare 10 minutes of your long warrior life to help me a bit? After that I’ll leave you alone and you’ll have a brand spanking new training suit created by the most beautiful woman on this planet.” 

Maybe that amusing invitation would make him reconsider, she thought. There was a short silence in which the Saiyan seemed to be deliberating. Without having to prompt him again, the fighter agreed to her request. 

“Do it for all I care. I would like to know what the most beautiful woman on Earth looks like.” There was a cynical tone to his response, yet he found himself having to stifle a laugh. 

“Idiot. She’s sitting right beside you,” she hissed, pretending to be angry and crossed her arms. At least Vegeta was also joking with her, she discovered with joy. As she looked at his face, she thought she could even detect a grin at the corner of his mouth. A calmness settled between them that was accompanied only by the light blowing of the wind. Bulma breathed in the fresh evening air and reveled in this sense of togetherness on the roof. She now understood why Vegeta loved to spend his evening hours here. 

“Anything else?” he suddenly asked and the inventor was once again torn from her thoughts. 

“Yes, there’s one more thing…,” she sighed, thinking about how to phrase her next question. “I just wanted to ask what your opinion was on…” But she couldn’t finish asking the question, the words were stuck in her throat. It was difficult to talk about this subject with Vegeta. 

“About what?” he demanded. 

“Well, about the letter I got. You took off so quickly yesterday. Before I even had a chance to react, you had already done a runner on me.”

    

“Why are you interested in my opinion?”

    

“So you admit you have one?” she said jubilantly. Bulma noticed how the Saiyan’s eyebrow twitched at that statement. She hoped that he was giving her question some thought. 

“Who knows?” he hissed, turning further away from her. 

    

“So…?” With curiosity, she snuck behind him. 

    

“Don’t stand so close to me…,” he growled, turning his head towards her so that she could see his angry expression. 

“If I don’t, you’ll just escape again,” Bulma replied and she could hear him give an exasperated sigh. 

“What do you want to hear? Should I tell you that your idiot boyfriend is the right one for you? Would you also like me to list all of your positive character traits and to discuss each one with you?” 

“I didn’t say that at all…” What was up with this monkey? Was this the jealousy she had wished for? Could the Saiyan possibly have some affection for her? Was Yamcha perhaps a thorn in his side? 

“You should just forget that letter. Everything that dumbass wrote is complete bullshit.” 

“What…? What did you say?” She was livid at Vegeta’s assessment. On the one hand, he was too irritated to even use Yamcha’s name and had instead replaced his name with insults. And then he had belittled the letter that her boyfriend had written her. Were all the positive things that Yamcha had described worth nothing in his eyes? Could that possibly be true? Did he mean to suggest that she had no good qualities? Was this just another act the Saiyan was putting on to hurt her? Whenever she believed that Vegeta could no longer surprise her, he proved her wrong. The prince hadn’t hurt her at all, even if it had appeared that way at first. His next words revealed that his actual meaning was quite different from what she had initially assumed. 

    

“He doesn’t seem to know you...like I do.” 

The blue-haired woman was silent and unsure about how to interpret what had just been said. Instead of responding to his declaration, she countered with a question of her own. 

“Do you care if I say yes to Yamcha’s proposal?”

“Tch. Should I?” He paused, and she could feel his heavy stare upon her. It was so typical of him to feign indifference. But she wasn’t going to let him get away with it this time. Bulma just couldn’t help herself and wanted her extraterrestrial guest to participate in her musings. 

“Yes, you should.” 


	13. Just Tell Me...

He stared into her blue eyes with disbelief while she gazed back at him expectantly. What was this woman looking for? It struck him as idiotic for her to come and join him on the roof just for the sake of discussing a new training suit . Of course he knew what her actual intent on coming up there was. She had been obsessing over that letter for days. Now that they both knew what the letter contained, she was dead-set on learning his honest opinion about it. Vegeta had the strange feeling that she was looking at him again. Couldn’t she ask one of her girlfriends for advice instead? Or ask one of those stupid fighters that she always had buzzing around her? The baldy or maybe the pig, or whoever? The Saiyan was extremely annoyed. In addition, he was annoyed by the fact that although he did it reluctantly, he would still cave in and answer her questions. She had a knack with phrasing things so that he couldn’t help but reply. 

So what did he really think about the letter? He thought that it was all bullshit. Vegeta could only sense despair in the desert bandit’s every word. There was no love, desire or connection. No, all he could sense was panic, which had grown enormously in the weakling. The fighter had been gone for a considerable length of time and he must be aware, that in contrast to himself, Vegeta was dangerously close to the woman. In a way, he could understand Yamcha’s thinking, if one regarded the blue-haired woman like a possession. But it wasn’t that simple. This kind of situation couldn’t be described that simply, and she certainly wasn’t someone that anyone could just claim to possess. Although, it really did appear that that was what the fighter believed. The Earthling had used all sorts of meaningless phrases to stretch his point. The desert bandit couldn’t see but rather had tried to repress her true good qualities. One thing the Saiyan had to admit - she had a certain pride and self-confidence, which he recognized as being the same as his. Even if he dismissed her behaviour as insane, he realized that she had a lot of courage. Moreover, her most striking attribute was that she was completely without prejudice and that she always formed her own opinions without allowing anyone else, not even someone she loved, to influence her. 

“Everything that dumbass wrote is bullshit.”

However, beyond saying that, Vegeta would keep his thoughts on the matter to himself. It was more than enough that he had already made a disparaging remark.

“He doesn’t seem to know you...like I do.” he whispered, with the words escaping from his lips and with their exact meaning lost on the blue-haired woman. But that didn’t matter, she would just interpret it with whatever fit the bill. Yet Vegeta was still surprised that she didn’t demand that he explain the deeper meaning of his message. Instead, she changed the subject. 

“ _Do you care if I say yes to Yamcha’s proposal?”_

Did he care how she would respond to her boyfriend’s proposal? It was really all the same to him. It wasn’t like he had any romantic interest in the Earth woman. Although, the fact that such a lowlife got to call her his girlfriend had slowly come to annoy him. How had this change occurred? He had never been envious of the desert bandit before and until recently, he hadn’t been affected by the two Earthlings’s relationship. What had happened in the past few weeks or even months, that he now felt almost angry about their relationship? Well, he had to admit that he was interested in how she would respond but she didn’t need to know about his interest. 

“ _Yes, you should.”_

Dammit, why was his heart beating so rapidly all of a sudden? Vegeta had to hide his blush. What was the purpose in asking him this? She seemed to be making a lot of assumptions. He couldn’t imagine what she was trying to imply or what kind of reaction she was trying to provoke. His gaze shifted carefully over to her, but he couldn’t look into her eyes. He looked grimly at her long legs instead that were covered by her knee-length boots. Without realizing it, his gaze wandered upwards from her pantyhose, to her thighs and up to her miniskirt, which concealed just the bare minimum of flesh. Why...why was she all dolled up like that? His eyes continued moving upwards until they reached her tight top. Although she had a jacket on, she had unzipped it, so that a hint of cleavage was being shown. Had she deliberately dressed like that? However, the more important question was, why was her appearance suddenly affecting him to this extent? Since when did the female body make him so embarrassed? 

“Vegeta?” he heard her sweet voice sound out. 

The Saiyan was shaken up and turned his eyes away from her again. God, hopefully she hadn’t noticed that he was checking her out. Since when did such inappropriate thoughts enter his head? It was getting harder and harder to conceal his blush. His face felt extremely hot.

“Are you alright?” 

Suddenly, he felt her hand brush gently against his forehead. Vegeta was so startled by this unexpected touch, that in the heat of the moment, he pushed her away. 

“Take your dirty paws off..,” he growled. He didn’t finish cursing her, as he was interrupted by her screams. Shocked, he looked across at her but she was nowhere to be found. The fighter looked from right to left until his eyes finally looked down and he saw her. “Oh shit…,” he stammered, for he could not believe what he had just done. Vegeta was always careful in controlling his power but what he had done had removed all the air from his lungs. 

~*~

His blow came unexpectedly and hurt a lot. Everything happened so fast that it was a miracle that Bulma was able to grasp onto the railing. She frantically held onto the railing with one hand and tried not to look down. They were on the roof of Capsule Corp. and if she fell down now...then only the Dragon Balls would be able to save her. “Vegeta...help me,” she groaned almost inaudibly, as she clutched the railing. Bulma was annoyed just then that she had not taken her power training in the gym very seriously. When was the last time she had done any physical activity anyways?

With each passing second, her body just felt heavier and she became more nervous. Her hands started sweating and the bar that she could just barely hold onto, began to slowly slip out of her reach. “Please…,” she begged, as she no longer had any strength left to scream. Then the inevitable happened. Bulma could no longer support herself and she fell. With her last breath, she only prayed to heaven that Vegeta had heard or seen her. The ground was getting closer and closer. It was so incredibly close that she could already picture her impact. She closed her eyes, hoping that it would be over quickly, and that her parents would at least be responsible enough to resurrect her with the Dragon Balls. That was her last hope now. 

No. Not the last hope. What happened next was as sudden as her fall, but in contrast to that, it was something wonderful. Bulma suddenly felt strong arms around her and shortly after, she felt a small jolt, that stopped her fall. The jolt was barely noticeable yet it had saved her life. She slowly opened her eyes and looked into the face of her saviour. It was none other than Vegeta who had come to her aid as quickly as he could. She had hoped that he would catch her, and up until the last moment, she had been undecided about whether he actually would do it or not. He had after all pushed her down, even if it had been unintentional. Bulma leaned her head against his chest, inhaling his body’s scent. Without thinking, she wrapped her arms around him and pressed herself against him. Her heart pounded endlessly against his chest, as she realized his closeness to her. Or was it from the exhilaration of the fall itself? 

The wind settled around her and within a few seconds, the ground was once again beneath Vegeta’s feet. The blue-haired woman breathed a sigh of relief and looked once more into the face of her saviour. It was as if she could detect some concern in his face...or was that just her imagination? The Saiyan no Ouji was so uncomfortable with having her staring at him for so long that he broke the silence that reigned between them.

“Everything worked out for you this time. But next time, you better keep your paws off me,” he warned in a stern tone. 

“Do you mean to say that this was my fault?” she snapped.

“Whose else? You really can’t keep your hands off me?” A slight grin curled around his lips, which only prickled her more. 

“You should learn to control your strength!” 

At that suggestion, his eyebrow twitched. She had apparently touched a sore spot with him. A smile flitted over her face. This had just been a dumb accident and nothing more. In any case, she trusted that the prince wouldn’t just intentionally throw her down to her death. He had actually come to her rescue when she had called for him instead. 

“You should know not to touch me without permission,” he countered. 

“Are you scared of being touched…?” she asked curiously, raising her left hand slightly while still lying in his arms, until she came to a halt right in front of his cheek. 

“What do you think you’re doing?” he growled, not taking his eyes off from her. 

“Just stay still,” she ordered and put her hand to his face. Bulma could tell by his reaction that he found her touch to be extremely strange. Why did he have such a big issue with getting close to someone? But now that she thought about, the answer came to her. He had only touched her directly once before. The blue-haired woman remembered standing in her dress, thinking every minute that her arm would be crushed, as he grabbed her as a consequence of lying to him and taking him for a ride. Only now did the inventor remember that he had shaken his hand vigorously after touching her as if she had been...dirty. He also made direct skin contact when fighting so why was he drawing the line here with her? 

Even though he had been acting so surly, he was suddenly strikingly calm again. She felt his heated face in her hand and his heavy gaze upon her. His dark opal eyes were so piercing that they were making her forget everything else around her. Why was she touching him again? She really didn’t know. Her brain seemed to be shutting off, as she unconsciously pulled his face closer to hers. A strange feeling and sense of longing arose in her, which she had not felt for a long time. And she would give in and satisfy this desire. All she wanted right now was to taste the Saiyan’s lips. 

“Am I...disrupting you?”

Another voice stilled the movement of her hand. Her heart, which was already beating rapidly, froze to ice as she realized who was asking this question. She cautiously looked to her left, and saw the very man she would have least liked to witness her encounter with Vegeta.

~*~

Yamcha dropped his sports bag in shock. What in the hell were those two doing? After his long absence, the black-haired fighter had returned to get the hoped-for response from his girlfriend about whether she wanted to become his wife. But now that he saw his supposed fianc ée he felt as if she had never even received his letter. And there she was now also in the arms of a murderer. Vegeta was carrying her and it appeared as if they had been about to kiss. But that couldn’t be...

“What the hell…?” he stammered, trying to recollect himself. Slowly, the two noticed his presence there. Bulma’s head turned towards him and Vegeta dropped his girlfriend to the ground in horror. 

“Ow...bloody hell…,” she cursed, trying to get back up despite the pain. “Yamcha...I’m so glad that you’re here.” Bulma straightened her body and walked a few steps towards him. 

Although it was dark, the former desert bandit could still detect her blush. She looked so different and it definitely wasn’t just because of her haircut. He also saw how agitated she looked. The evidence was right in front of his face. Yamcha had decided to leave his jealousy behind, but her facial expression only revealed...guilt. 

“It doesn’t look like you’re glad that I’m back. You’re probably just trying to throw me off again…” He glared at her and picked up his sports bag from off the ground. Yamcha observed his adversary, who not wanting to participate in the conversation, had withdrawn as far away as he could get! Vegeta had tried to steal his girlfriend and now he was just going to quietly and secretly slink away? “Hey you!” he shouted angrily after him. 

Vegeta felt that he had to be the one being addressed, so he slowed his exit. He looked at Yamcha in surprise. “Who me? Are you talking to me, maggot?” 

He could not have said that more derogatively. Yamcha’s anger was collecting and washing over him. He was livid now. “Don’t try to spin this, you monkey. Don’t think you can just take off after trying to seduce my girlfriend!”

“Seduce? You must have a few screws loose,” the Saiyan no Ouji hissed contemptuously and placed his hands on his hips. “As if she could ever turn me on…”

At those words, Yamcha’s gaze immediately shifted back towards Bulma, whose face spoke volumes. Her jaw was almost to the ground. It was like she had been expecting more from him and not an insult. The black-haired fighter let the Saiyan depart and decided to resolve this situation with his girlfriend on his own. “Bulma...do you have anything to say for yourself?” He exhaled and took a few steps towards her, until he stopped right in front of her. 

~*~

Her heart was still beating wildly. Why had Vegeta said that? That she could never turn him on? Was she really that repulsive to him? First, he couldn’t bear to be touched by her and now this. It hurt that he thought so lowly of her. But what did she expect? That just because their future selves had a thing for each other that the same thing would repeat in the present? 

“Bulma...do you have anything to say for yourself?”

She was frightened by her boyfriend’s accusatory tone. How could she hope to explain anything to him when she couldn’t even explain to herself what was going on with her and Vegeta? Fuck it, she loved Yamcha so what was she doing? Her hand had just been attracted to the Saiyan as if by magic, hmm...hmm...God, what would have have happened if Yamcha hadn’t interrupted them? Would she have really dared to kiss her extraterrestrial guest? What had gotten into her? It was inconceivable that she had almost cheated on her boyfriend. 

“It’s not what it looks like,” she said pathetically and knew that she sounded extremely dumb. Of course it was exactly what it looked like. Being the idiot that she was, she had almost kissed the prince!

“Oh yes. You know, I think I’ve heard this one before.” Her boyfriend bit down on his lip and she could see the disappointment in his eyes. “It’s the same old excuses over and over again. I just can’t take it anymore. I think I already know what your answer to my question is…”

“What question?” she asked, and then it hit her that he was wondering whether she wanted to be his wife or not.

“Just tell me...once and for all,” he breathed, placing his hands on her shoulders, “will you be my wife?” 

His hands were as strong as lead on her shoulders. Why was her boyfriend asking her this difficult question now? The reason she had wanted to discuss this matter with Vegeta was because she had no answer. Not yet anyways. Actually, she had wanted to be truthful about what she was feeling. Before the Saiyan no Ouji had dropped her from the roof, she had wanted to tell him that she was unsure. There was also something else that was still always on her mind that she had wanted to discuss with him too. She had wanted to talk to him about the future again and finally end the issue once and for all. But that chance had been denied by Yamcha, and he was now confronting her with the all important question instead. It was probably the most important question of both of their lives. All he wanted was a simple answer that would determine the course of their future together. 

“Yamcha, I haven’t had enough time to think about it yet,” she replied, having to force that answer out of herself. 

“No! No more excuses! Tell me the answer right here and now so that I finally know where I stand!” 

His steady gaze wouldn’t leave her. What should she do? Bulma wasn’t ready to answer. She was having too many mixed feelings. She was just too agitated to make a proper decision. But she knew one thing: she loved Yamcha. She just had to ignore that surge of emotion that was stirred by something or someone else. At least for the moment. 

If she thought about it, she really didn’t have a choice. She didn’t want to hurt her boyfriend and above all, she didn’t want to lose him. Not again. So she did what was best for herself at this point in time...

“I want...to be your wife.”

...even if something didn’t feel right. 

~*~

Vegeta had not ventured far from the two of them. He had been overtaken by his curiosity. Annoyed, he leaned against the wall of Capsule Corporation and eavesdropped on the conversation with his good hearing. When he heard her accept her boyfriend’s proposal, a shiver ran down his back. This didn’t make any sense. She had just tried to kiss him. And now? Now she was saying that she would become the wife of that blithering idiot. 

Yes, she had clearly made a pass at him. He had frozen to ice when he had felt her hand on his face. Her blue eyes had broken his resolve, and he had immediately surrendered as she drew him closer. “How could I have let things go so far…?” he asked himself while clenching his right hand into a fist. How was it possible that he had completely forgotten himself for a fraction of a second? He had lost control of his body and his control was only sinking further out of his reach. He hit the wall behind him in rage. Although it was difficult for him, he held himself back, so that he wouldn’t create a hole in the wall. 

It had almost happened. He had almost given in to that woman...

And so he determined that the future that had already come to pass, was not as unrealistic as he had originally imagined. He could even somewhat envision how it all could have happened that…”Enough,” he cursed and he tore himself away from the wall. Actually, Vegeta was glad that this had all happened for now he knew that he really had to apply the emergency brake on whatever was going on between them. But he didn’t even have it do that anymore, since Bulma had beaten him to it by accepting that fool’s marriage proposal. Yes, it was much better this way. 

But if this was for the best...

...then why did something not feel right?


	14. ... Yes?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh dear, the fic is now a bit ahead, I have to continue drawing xD Hope you'll still read the doujin despite the knowledge of the fic :)  
> Thanks again to my translator fleurlicorne!

   

Bulma was dressed in her nightshirt and was sitting at her desk as she observed Yamcha sleeping. She watched the quiet exhalations of breath coming from her boyfriend...no, her fiancé. Damn, she couldn’t believe that she had actually said yes. The previous night had been emotionally exhausting and she was no less conflicted than she had been yesterday. She loved Yamcha, there was no doubt about that. But somehow this love did not feel as strong as it had in the months before. It was not the same emotion it had once been ever since that evening where he had literally ditched her and left her alone with Vegeta. She felt so unsure and had to determine her feelings once and for all. She did not want to dive headfirst into disaster. 

In hindsight, she found it almost absurd that she had actually accepted his proposal. Had she done it as a result of that startling confrontation last night where Yamcha had caught her and Vegeta red-handed as they came closer and almost kissed…? If the three of them hadn’t had this knowledge of what the future would bring...would she have ever said yes? How would the real Bulma have reacted? She probably would have argued that he shouldn’t be so stressed and narrow-minded in his views. But why was she no longer the Bulma that she had once been? What had changed to make her become so different now? 

She glanced over at her fiancé, with her eyes roaming across his scarred face. Last night had been amazing. After answering his question, they had withdrawn to her room and given themselves to one another...She could still smell his scent on her skin. They hadn’t seen one another in a very long time and it wasn’t surprising that they had certain needs to fulfill. Although, she had to admit that her thoughts had primarily been focused on someone else. When Yamcha had been positioned above her, she had instantly imagined the strong and muscular body of the Saiyan on top of her instead and how he would explore every inch of her body and...god, how she hated herself. In women’s magazines, one could easily find articles asserting that it was normal to sometimes think of someone else during the act. But Vegeta? How outlandish was that? 

She thoughtfully recalled the body odor of the prince. It wasn’t that Yamcha smelled bad, it was just that Vegeta had a certain fragrance that she could not quite explain. He smelled animalistic and the more she considered it, the more she could feel her thoughts drifting away. That was exactly what had happened the previous night. Almost every kiss she shared with Yamcha was replaced with the lips of the Saiyan no Ouji. Every touch from Yamcha transformed into an exhilarating caress from the extraterrestrial fighter. Bulma breathed heavily as she tried to rearrange her thoughts. Dammit, it was too much of a good thing to erase from her mind! But she loved Yamcha! And just because they had been together for so long didn’t make it acceptable to fantasize about someone else! This was only happening because she was already familiar with everything about Yamcha, he wasn’t new and unexplored territory like the body of the prince...

“Morning,” she heard her boyfriend greet her as he stirred from the bed.

“Morning,” she replied, as she unconsciously pulled her knees up to her chest. 

“Have you been awake for long?” he asked her, indicating to the bed. 

“No...not for very long. I couldn’t sleep,” she answered curtly, still being completely possessed by all of these bizarre thoughts. 

“Don’t you want to come cuddle with your fiancé?” With a skillful puppy dog look, he tried to lure her back to bed. 

But she waved her hand dismissively at him. Instead of returning to him, she stood up and walked out of the room. She just had to get away from there. Although they had been close the night before, she now needed incredible distance from him. She felt bad for feeling that way, but that was the truth.

“I have to go check on something...I’ll be right back,” she explained before disappearing behind the door. After closing the door behind her, she took a deep breath. She felt sick to her stomach. Everything was all wrong. But wasn’t everything supposed to feel right? If you loved someone, then it shouldn’t feel repugnant to accept their marriage proposal. Just because she thought about another man during sex was no reason to worry, right? But why was she wasting her time thinking about someone who wasn’t even attracted to her? Vegeta had clearly expressed that. So why couldn’t she just move on after hearing his rejection? The blue-haired woman moved in the direction of her lab and plopped down onto her office chair. At least while she remained there she would have some peace. No one would disturb her. Yamcha must think that she was in the bathroom and Vegeta...he could go fuck off for all she cared. 

But she could not switch off her thoughts like she wanted. No, instead her eyes wandered to one of her drawers. She knew exactly what the drawer contained, but she couldn’t help but open it anyways. She struggled to unfold her timeline before she admired her handiwork. With her pen in hand, Bulma crossed off the time that had already elapsed. In addition, she included one extra event. “Kiss?” She read back to herself. The question mark was definitely necessary. After all, it wasn’t like they had actually kissed, but they almost had. But why couldn’t the question mark be an exclamation point instead? For some reason, she wished that it had happened. But at least she knew that Vegeta would be a worse kisser than Yamcha. 

“That’s bullshit!” she said to herself. What was she talking about? Kissing Vegeta would have been breathtaking. It just had to be, she couldn’t imagine anything less. Not for the first time, she wondered why she found the Saiyan to be so appealing. Only a few months ago, she would have mocked such an idea, but now? Now she was consumed by unspeakable thoughts about his hot muscular body that were simply unfair to her boyfriend...no, to her fiancé. 

She dropped her pen in annoyance and leaned back. Maybe she should just take back her vow, or make it clear to Yamcha that she would be postponing the nuptials for as long as possible. It would have to be long enough that she wouldn’t have to think about the wedding for the next two, three, or even better, four years. 

“Bulma, where are you?” she suddenly heard a voice call from the hallway. Had she already been gone for that long that her fiancé was looking for her? The blue-haired woman jerked out of her chair and left the office the same way she had come. Yamcha did not need to to know that she was hiding out there, otherwise he would always show up in her lab whenever she needed space. 

~*~

“What? You two are engaged?” Mrs. Briefs flipped a pancake and was beside herself with joy. 

Bulma was sitting at the kitchen table and drinking her coffee while Yamcha revealed the unbelievable news on behalf of the both of them. 

“And when is the big day?” 

“We haven’t discussed it yet but maybe next summer?” Bulma felt the former desert bandit’s questioning gaze upon her, but she didn’t want to elaborate further. Such topics of conversation at this time of the morning were just too much for her especially when she hadn’t even had any coffee yet. 

“I was hoping that it’d happen as soon as possible,” the blonde chirped as she transferred the food onto the plates beside the stove. Next, she served the newly engaged couple their breakfast. However, the blue-haired woman had lost her appetite and left her breakfast untouched. From the corner of her eye, she watched and listened to the conversation that her mother was having with Yamcha. Bulma sipped her drink and sighed laboriously. God, all this nagging first thing in the morning...she would have liked to have told her boyfriend… aaah fiancé (!) that he was forbidden to tell her mother anything. But now it was too late to go back and fix that. 

“What does Vegeta have to say about this?” 

Bulma’s gaze froze to ice as her mother suddenly mentioned her extraterrestrial guest. What the hell did he have to do with it? She peered to the side at Yamcha’s face that didn’t look very impressed. She could really sense that he was trying to suppress his jealousy and how he despised having Vegeta’s name brought up in his presence at all. Come on, she thought. Let it all out. It was really quite amusing to see him struggle with these unpleasant feelings. The inventor had to get a hold of herself. She almost hated herself for harbouring such thoughts. Why was she hoping for his jealousy to return? Was it because she needed a reason to...break the engagement?

“What does he have to do with it?” he asked in an uncertain tone. 

Actually, he was right. Since when was her mother interested in Vegeta’s opinion with regards to anything? Or was there something that she didn’t know? 

“Well, Oolong called me recently and told me about this boy from the future that Vegeta and Bulma…”

Before her mother could say anything worse, Bulma gulped down her coffee which she had been having a hard time swallowing. Since when did her mother know anything about that? She had never said a single word about it, and yes, she had certainly had ample opportunity to tell her this information. Had Oolong really called her? What had gotten into the pig to tell Mrs. Briefs the whole story? Her friend was definitely not receiving an invitation to the next barbecue...

~*~

Although he hated it, he had no choice, he would have to go and find her. Last night she had pitched the idea of new training suits to him. However, they had not spoken since then, especially after their conversation had gone in a completely different direction. Vegeta tried to ignore that the weakling was back in the house. It wasn’t that he hated him particularly, he just didn’t like his overwhelming stupidity. Really, what did the woman even see in that idiot? The Saiyan at least hadn’t bothered imagining what the newly engaged pair had been up to last night. It was no concern of his, but still, he found it odd that he had considered, albeit briefly, that she was sharing a bed with that idiot. Well, some of that was his own fault. Vegeta had boasted that the blue-haired woman would never turn him on. But did that idiot really believe that he would admit to having a real interest in her? He would rather tear out his own hair than confess that to him. 

After he had finished his morning shower, he headed for the kitchen, where he could already hear her annoying mother cackling. He came a few steps closer and listened to their conversation. 

“What does Vegeta have to say about this?”

His breath was cut short when he heard his name. What did he have to do with their insane engagement? And he also couldn’t ignore that Mrs. Briefs seemed to know everything and that there was a sad note in her voice. Was she concerned about the two marrying? 

“Vegeta is a good looking man after all,” he heard the shrill voice ring out. 

This was just too much for him! This gossip was driving him mad and was causing him an unbearable headache. For nothing and no one would he dare enter the kitchen now to ask the blue-haired woman about the training suits. She must have put the gis in capsules that he could find somewhere in her lab. She certainly wouldn’t object if he entered her sacred lab without her permission. 

The black-haired fighter walked up the stairs to the next floor and went down the hallway until he finally stood in front of her lab. The door to the lab was still wide open and it didn’t surprise him that she hadn’t bothered to lock it. Perhaps she already had the new training suits ready and waiting but before she could give it to him, she had left the lab in a hurry for no apparent reason yet again. Vegeta entered the lab but he could not find anything that even remotely resembled a training suit. Frowning, he looked through the room but couldn’t find anything. He took a few more steps before stopping at her desk. “This looks like a blueprint...,” he said to himself, as he looked down at the lines that were drawn onto a piece of paper. She might be inventing something new which could assist him in his training. But it didn’t take long before the prince realized that the paper was something completely different. He nervously glanced at the calculations, figures and notes that she’d added. It looked like she had made a timeline that was depicting the events of _the three years_ that were to come and some of which that had already passed. Yes, that was definitely what this was. The last part of the timeline was labeled birth. “She couldn’t possibly…,” his breath stopped and his eyes wandered to the post for the previous day that was marked with the word, Kiss? 

Vegeta couldn’t believe what he was seeing. He took a few steps back and tried to recollect himself. He really didn’t know what to make of it or what he should do about it. Had she actually transcribed a potential future? Was this a timeline of the common future that could occur in the present time? Was she really that concerned about this? All of this made no sense in his eyes. First, she had unexpectedly tried to kiss him and then she had rushed into a stupid engagement with that weak Earthling. And now he realized that she must think about this potential future often, perhaps she even thought about it every single day. What she was doing was exactly the same, if not worse, than what the Saiyan no Ouji himself had done. What was the point of this whole charade? Was this all just a game to her? Vegeta felt completely fooled. She always seemed to manipulate matters to achieve what she wanted. Or was she just performing some sort of strange experiment on him? Was this just a desperate attempt to predict and plan for the future despite the knowledge that they had been given to prevent it from occurring? Was she trying to seduce him? Did she have a serious interest in him or did she only view him as a sperm donor who was there to help her give birth to that boy?

Honestly, he didn’t know how respond to all this and what he should think of her. At that moment, he wanted nothing more than to know what was going on in the crazy mind of that woman. Why in the name of god was this making him feel so down and out? Had his pride been injured in some inexplicable way…?

~*~

“Could you please stop talking about Vegeta?” Bulma begged her mother and her fiancé. “As I’ve already said before, that was just one possible future. We have a different future awaiting us. Our timeline has already changed since we know that the androids are coming. That one minor detail is irrelevant now. Does it matter whose kid I have?” The words streamed forth from her mouth like a waterfall. But those words just weren’t true. They didn’t reflect her actual feelings. Of course, it made a difference whose child she had. Everything had changed once she had spoken to the boy from the future. Damn, she might even love that boy with the purple hair. She would be responsible if he suddenly ceased to exist. In addition, he had mentioned that he would return to help in the fight against the androids. What would he say or think when he saw her holding Yamcha’s baby? God, she couldn’t bear to imagine anymore of this messed up situation. But could she really forsake and hurt the only man she loved? 

Things were getting difficult. They were becoming extremely complex. Furthermore, time was passing by so quickly. Her fiance was pressing her to pick a date. If it were up to him, they would be married before the proposed date of that child’s birth. But she just couldn’t do that. How could she ever make him understand? 

“I forgot something in the lab,” she remembered suddenly, and rose from her seat. Her breakfast was already cold and her appetite had not yet returned. She should have just thrown her food straight into the garbage. 

“Can’t you stop thinking about work for once?” 

Bulma ignored Yamcha and left her mother alone with him. She was getting a headache from all this engagement and Vegeta chatter. Lost in thought, she climbed the stairs until she was close to her lab. By the entrance, Vegeta suddenly came out to meet her. 

“Onna!” he shouted. 

God, what had gotten into him? Was he in a bad mood again? 

“Onna!” he roared. “Where are my training suits and when can you have the spaceship ready for departure?”

“What..how?” These were almost too many questions for her to handle at once. Bulma had just finished drinking her first coffee of the day and he was already bombarding her with questions. 

“Well, what is it now?” She was slowly seeing red. She put her hands on her hips and glared at him. 

“Now listen here! I am not your servant or anyone else that you can boss around, do you understand? I heard you, now give me a chance to answer,” she retorted, looking at the angry face of the Saiyan. What had happened to suddenly make him look so distressed? “The training suits are in the other lab and...why do you want me to prepare the spaceship? Do you want to leave?”

“I want to get away from this goddamn planet as soon as possible and be on my own for awhile. Things are clearly becoming too complicated here,” he hissed. 

What in the world was bugging him? Things were too complicated for him? Did this have something to do with Yamcha? Bulma was positive that she detected a hint of jealousy in his voice. But that couldn’t be right for why would he be jealous if she wasn’t even able to arouse him?

“Listen, if this is because of Yamcha…,” she began, trying to defuse the situation, but Vegeta interrupted her in the middle of her sentence. 

“This has nothing to do with that pussy. This is all because of you! I can’t bear to look at your face anymore and you know exactly why!”

Vegeta was shouting so loudly that everyone in the house might have been able to hear him. The blue-haired woman was anxious about everyone being privy to their conversation, so she marched him towards the lab so that she could at least have a barrier between them and the others. 

“Don’t scream like that or do you want everyone to hear you?” she snapped, pushing him into the lab and closing the door behind her. “What the hell are you trying to do? What have I done to make you so mad? Have I ever…?” But she didn’t continue her question for at that moment she glanced over at her desk where her timeline was out in the open for all to see. She had unknowingly left it out. What if Yamcha had seen it? God, maybe it would have been preferable if he had come across it! That would have been a better alternative to Vegeta, whose rage she could now understand. “Oh shit…,” was the only thing she had to say for herself. Suddenly, she felt very small and she swallowed the heavy lump in her throat. “It’s not what…”

“Yes, it’s never what it looks like, is it?” He shot her a bitter look and she peered back at him remorsefully. “You’re putting on quite the show. First with that stunt where you acted as if you wanted to kiss me and now…!”

“As if? Yes, I made a mistake. I was acting without thinking first. But if you had a problem with what I was doing, you should have put up a fight!” she countered, taking a dangerous step closer to him. “You probably would have been overjoyed that a woman was actually kissing you again, assuming that you’ve ever been kissed in the first place.”

“Baka onna,” he cursed and gritted his teeth. “You aren’t being serious with me. This is all just a part of your dumb experiment.” 

“Experiment...what?” The last word got stuck in her throat. What did he mean?

“Your stupid timeline is only a desperate attempt to manipulate the future towards what is supposed to occur according to that boy or rather, to you. I am only a means to an end who you wish to seduce in order to recreate the future.”

Was that what he believed? That she regarded him as nothing more than a...sperm donor? Bulma felt wounded but she knew that it was her who had hurt him more. She had completely lost his trust which she had laboured so hard to attain. How could she ever hope to make things right again? But what was it exactly that disturbed him so much about this? He had just accused her of not having serious intentions when it came to him but since when had that become an important issue for him? Would it have been something completely different if...

“Is that what you think?” she huffed, having to muffle a wail. “If that’s what you really think, then please go. Go on now, get lost! That way I won’t have to see _you_ ever again.” 

“Don’t start snivelling now after putting on such a great show. Marry your boyfriend and play your tricks on him. But make sure to forget all about me,” he hissed, trying to walk past her. However, just as he was about to pass her, she grabbed his arm and wouldn’t let go. 

“Vegeta...one last thing…,” she stammered, holding back the tears with her last ounce of strength. She wanted to ask him one final question before he left the lab and maybe even the planet for a long time. He so desperately wanted to prevent that future from happening that escaping Earth was his only way out. But did he really have to choose the hard way out? Was it because...

“ _ What if I told you that…” _

...he truly thought that it was the only way out? 

“ _...I had meant it seriously?”_


End file.
